Baldwin graduate Sapp guides Seton Hall to title
Tri-State Sports & News Service
In the summer after his senior year at Edinboro University, Derek Sapp entereda pool-free zone.
This meant no more exhaustive lap work (as he did while starring for the Fighting Scots); no more perfecting his flip turn; no more chlorine-soaked Speedo’s.
The kid from Baldwin had had enough.
“Didn’t want anything to do with swimming,”he said.
So off Sapp went into the world of professional baseball, as a front-office employee for the Washington Wild Things. While there, he did everything from ticket sales to assisting in game-day operations.
A future in baseball appeared to be a possibility ... until reality struck like a MichaelPhelps finishing kick.
The calls of the water were too powerfulfor Sapp to ignore.
“It was an ‘absence makes the heart growstronger’ kind of thing,” he said.
Inhis return to the pool after a year hiatus, Sapp set off on a coaching odyssey that reached its peak on Feb. 24. That’s when the 29-year-old rookie head coach led Seton Hall University to a Big East Conference title at the Spire Institute in Geneva,Ohio.
His Pirates, led by seven seniors, overcame a seemingly insurmountable 85-point opening-day deficit to battle back in the subsequent 72 hours. The title was the second in program history, with the first coming a year earlier when Sapp, the youngest coach in the Big East, worked for 17-year vet Ron Farina(now an assistant at Lafayette).
“One of the most important things he did was he allowed the team to guide itself,” senior captain Cody Wimmer said of Sapp, who began his coaching career as a WVU assistant before moving on to Seton Hall five years ago. “He did not try to be the only voice. Anyone on the team couldsay something if they chose to.”
The resilient Seton Hall swimmers, who won nine gold medals, celebrated the championship by dousing their firstyear coach with a Gatorade shower. The scene was caught on camera by Sapp’s father Darrell, a photographer for the Post-Gazette.
“He said he’s editing it,” Sapp said, laughing, when asked if he had seen the photo.“It was a great moment.”
Sapp paused, before amplifying on thePirates’ fantastic finish.
“When we won it last year, we had a lead from the start,” said Sapp, a fouryear letterwinner and scholar-athlete honoree at Edinboro from 2007-10. “But to do it again, after being down like we were, that made it more memorable. We were finally able to breathe for the first time in three or four days. And to see the kids’reaction? That made it all worth it.”
The celebration continued nine days ago in front of 13,711 spectators at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The Pirates were honored during a high profile Big East basketball game between Seton Hall and No. 4 Villanova, won by Villanovain overtime.
Theywill also have a banner raised in their honor at Seton Hall’s Arthur E. ImperatoreNatatorium. “It’sbeen surreal,” Sapp said. Sapp’s current focus is training senior Noah Yanchulis, who will compete in the NationalInvitational. Sapp said the event isakin to basketball’s NIT. He then added, “It’s more challenging to make the NCAAsthantheOlympicTrials.”
To illustrate the impact Sapp has had on the Seton Hall swimmers, Wimmer said the young coach’s reach goes far beyondwinning championships.
“I have swam under Derek the past four years,” Wimmer said. “He has been avery big influence in my life in the pool, but more importantly, out of the pool. The first person who would always check up on me if I was having a rough day would be Derek. He would call or text or tell me that his door was always opento talk.
“Good coaches are usually measured on how many wins they have. Great coaches care about the athletes they have, not just athletically, but also emotionally and mentally. That is why I feel that Derek is one of the greatest coaches I’veever had.”