‘A Baltimore legend’
Mount Saint Joseph coach Clatchey hits 787 wins and counting
Mount Saint Joseph basketball coach Pat Clatchey’s heart was thumping, his eyes locked on the ball with his team one defensive stop from the program’s first Baltimore Catholic League Tournament championship.
A jumper bounced off the rim before a feverish pack parked under the basket fought for the ball. One tip-in attempt was off the mark, then two more bounced out before one of his Gaels finally swatted the ball from danger.
The final buzzer provided relief and joy: Mount Saint Joseph 49, Archbishop Spalding 48.
The year was 2003 and Clatchey, then 40 years old, was in his 11th season at the high school he graduated from in 1980. The breakthrough win, which also gave the
Gaels their first Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference Tournament title, jump-started the program’s longstanding success.
With Mount Saint Joseph coming off a sweep of last year’s BCL and MIAA A Conference Tournament titles, Clatchey, now 60, has the No. 1 Gaels (33-3) primed for more championships as another postseason approaches.
As he adds to his list of individual accomplishments, his legacy grows in Baltimore basketball. Earlier this month, he moved into third place in all-time wins for a Maryland boys high school basketball coach, passing St. Maria Goretti legend Cokey Robertson.
Now with a 787-256 mark, Clatchey is only behind the late DeMatha’s Morgan Wootten (1,274 wins), who retired in 2002, and Wicomico’s Butch Waller (896), who remains active.
“It just means I’ve been coaching for a long time — and winning,” said Clatchey, who has guided the Gaels to 27 regular-season and tournament titles in the BCL and MIAA A Conference. “I learned a long time ago that coaches that don’t win usually suffer the fate of getting fired. So I kind of coach maybe with a fear of failure and not wanting to fail.”
Much of the program’s sustained success is based on the rapport he builds with his players. He’s direct and honest and has “nonnegotiable” expectations to get the most of each player. Topping the list are being a good teammate, accepting your role and working hard every single practice.
Asked what his greatest satisfaction has been in his lengthy tenure, Clatchey gave
an emotional response.
“Having guys come in at [age] 14 and just seeing how they develop by the time they become seniors,” he said. “Then seeing guys play in college, going to college for free, and we’ve had guys win national championships, go on to play in the NBA.”
Eric Atkins, a 2010 Mount Saint Joseph graduate who was a four-year starting point guard and All-Metro regular before playing in college at Notre Dame, noted Clatchey’s early impact.
“When I think about Coach, I think about the recruiting process and how detailed he was, even when I was a seventh and eighth grader,” said Atkins, now 31 and an assistant coach for the NBA G League’s Wisconsin Herd. “I remember all the hand-written letters. He writes like chicken scratch, so you can’t really understand it all. But you can make out enough to understand he’s saying good things about you. He still does that to this day and it’s a testament of his dedication of the craft of recruiting and wanting to be the best at all times.”
All the decades of winning come with the nurturing of talent, and he’s had plenty to work with. Will Thomas, J.J. Outlaw and Louis Birdsong got the program rolling with Dino Gregory, Henry Sims, Brian
Johnson, Chase Adams, Atkins, Phil Booth, Kameron Williams, Jaylen Adams, Darryl Morsell, James Bishop, Jalen Smith and current standout Amani Hansberry keying the well-maintained success.
“Really, it’s about his attention to detail in practice. He wants things done 100% right and expects greatness every day,” said Hansberry, last year’s All-Metro Player of the Year who on Monday was named BCL Player of the Year.
Clatchey is always looking for new ways to find an edge. It could be from a strategy standpoint watching basketball at every level. Or it can be a motivational tool found in a book.
The Gaels quickly learn to expect the unexpected from Clatchey when it comes to getting them fired up — props included.
There was the time he showed up in the locker room with a silk boxing robe and gloves on. Another when he was barely able to squeeze into a team uniform. And another time sporting Army fatigues.
One year, he passed out shovels to encourage the team to keep digging. Another time, he raced “Hot Wheels” in the locker room when it was time to rev up for a playoff run.
A recent favorite was a production that came with help from his assistants.
“Before I walked into the locker room, I tapped on the door and an assistant hit the lights,” Clatchey said. “I came in with a lit candle that was illuminating my face and stood there silent for like 45 seconds. Then,
I blew the candle out and said ‘Let’s blow these guys out tonight!’ ”
Jordon Griffin, an assistant coach for the past nine years, soaks it in and makes sure to take notes.
“Being around this guy, I’ve learned so much. Everything he does is positive and enthusiastic and he’s got a serious passion that really drives him and us as a team,” he said. “The one main thing is he’s open. I think what’s helped make him be so successful is he’s always getting better because he has a growth mindset and is always willing to listen to new ideas and attach or complement his style. It works.”
As the times, players and game have changed, Clatchey has tweaked some things but mostly stuck with what has worked.
Robertson, who won 781 games in a 40-year career at Westminster, Thomas Johnson and Goretti, presented Clatchey with a game ball before the Mount Saint Joseph-Goretti game on Wednesday to commemorate his most recent accolade. Robertson joked: “I gave him enough wins back in the day and now I’m giving him a damn ball!”
Kidding aside, the mutual respect the two coaches share — and throughout the prestigious BCL coaching line — is admirable.
“We go back a long way, probably 30 years, and he’s still doing much the same stuff,” said Robertson, who stepped down at Goretti in 2008. “His kids are always fundamentally sound, they play team basketball, and that’s been his motto all along. Not that dribble, dribble, dribble stuff you see too much of today.”
In its 52nd season, the BCL has a lineage of coaching greats that includes league Hall of Famers Robertson, Loyola Blakefield’s Jerry Savage, Calvert Hall’s Mark Amatucci, St. Frances’ William Wells, Towson Catholic’s Mike Daniel and Cardinal Gibbons’ O. Ray Mullis.
Archbishop Spalding coach Josh Pratt, whose first stint in the BCL came at Towson Catholic, said Clatchey is made from the same cloth.
“Pat’s a Baltimore legend,” he said. “He’s obviously a Hall of Fame coach and I also think he respects the coaches in our league, which is an awesome thing. He’s all about the BCL. He’s kind of carried the torch since I’ve been in the league.”
Clatchey says he’s most proud of the consistency the program has been able to maintain. This year marks the Gaels’ 29th straight winning season and 11th 30-win season.”
“It’s just working hard, working smart and being myself and honest with the players,” he said. “I tell them the truth, and sometimes they might not like to hear it, but they can’t say, ‘Well, you weren’t honest with me.’ Some kids handle it better than others, but I think the type of young men we have, they respect what the program has done and they know I’m being a straight shooter with them.”