A STIRRING RETURN
Former Rice coach lands Scanlan job
THE COACHING carousel in the CHSAA continues to roll with another boldface name changing addresses.
Dwayne Mitchell, the former basketball coach at Rice High who lost his job after one season when the Harlem school closed for financial reasons, was hired on Monday to be the new boys varsity coach at Monsignor Scanlan, he told the Daily News.
For Mitchell, who spent last season coaching second- and third-graders with the powerhouse Gauchos AAU program, it’s a return to a league he knows well. Mitchell was a Rice assistant for a decade before being recast as the team’s head coach for the 2010-2011 season, his only head coaching experience on the high school level to this point.
Now, Mitchell gets another chance, replacing outgoing Scanlan coach Andrew Ayers.
“I was blessed to get the Rice job and I’m blessed to be back in the Catholic school league where I’ve been for over 17 years,” said Mitchell, who’s currently coaching a second grade Gauchos team at the AAU National Championships in Memphis, Tenn. “I love what the league represents and what it does for kids, so it just feels good to be back.”
The hire comes during a period of big changes in the CHSAA. St. Raymond coach Oliver Antigua resigned from his position on Monday to join Manhattan Col- lege as an assistant, and that school is now in the process of hiring a new coach.
Scanlan originally hired Molloy ‘B’ varsity basketball coach Steve Borhi for the varsity position, but he stepped aside in late May, opening up the position, according to Scanlan athletic director Tracy Keelin.
Mitchell, who is not taking on a teaching position at Scanlan, said the process took all of two weeks to complete.
Scanlan administrators reached out to Molloy’s legendary basketball and baseball coach Jack Curran for a recommendation and also spoke with former Rice coach Mo Hicks and current Mount St. Michael coach Tom Fraher for further references on Mitchell.
“I said he’s a solid guy and he would be a fine candidate,” Fraher said. “I know it’s not going to be easy over there, but people will have to be patient. But he’ll offer that program stability and professionalism on the high school level and he’ll move that program forward.”
After mentoring such standouts as Kemba Walker and Jermaine Sanders at Rice, Mitchell is literally starting over with his new assignment. Scanlan suffered through an abysmal season last year, finishing 0-12 in the CHSAA B, the league’s lowest classification.
“They’re looking to get back to the ‘A’ division,” Mitchell said. “So they’re hoping I can come in there and get good kids in there and kind of do what I did at Rice in terms of getting good student athletes in the building. We hope to build it up.”
Mitchell passed on two opportunities to coach last season, declining to take a spot as an assistant at New Jersey power St. Patrick and passing on a chance to coach the JV team at Don Bosco Prep, he said.
DECESARE CONTENT
Despite rumors that he might be interested in the St. Raymond job, former Ravens coach Gary DeCesare said he’s “very happy with what I’m doing right now and very content. I’m very happy here and I’m trying to build something here.”
DeCesare just completed his third season as the varsity coach at St. Rita, an allboys Catholic school on Chicago's South Side. DeCesare spent 16 seasons at St. Raymond, winning two state titles and four city championships.
CALL TO THE PEN
Keith Del Valle, who led the Scanlan to a CHSAA Class A city title earlier this month in just his second season, will take over the varsity program at Regis next season, moving up to the Class AA classification, he told the Daily News on Thursday.
Del Valle, 24, accepted the new job in May and takes over for outgoing coach Mike Skrapits, who left to manage a baseball instructional facility.