POSTSEASON BASKETBALL AWARDS
BOYS COACH OF THE YEAR MIKE RODRIGUEZ • OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART
Mike Rodriguez sometimes worked undercover during his many years with the FBI. Although Rodriguez is now retired from the FBI, he still can’t talk about those undercover days.
But the Post-Gazette has gone ahead and created a new identity for Rodriguez anyway.
Now call him “Coach of the Year.”
It’s the perfect identity after what Rodriguez did at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School in Coraopolis during the 2020-21 high school basketball season. He guided the OLSH boys basketball team to a 24-0 record and also WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A championships. In more than 100 years of WPIAL basketball, few teams can match the Chargers’ charge through the season. Under Rodriguez, OLSH became only the 14th WPIAL team to win a state title with a perfect record.
For his efforts, Rodriguez was selected the P-G Coach of the Year. The award takes into consideration all coaches in the WPIAL and City League.
This was Rodriguez’s 13th season as OLSH’s coach and undoubtedly the most successful as OLSH had one of the most dominant seasons of any team in WPIAL history. The Chargers outscored opponents by an average of almost 30 points a game (74.6-45.2).
But Rodriguez will tell you it was also the hardest season. He commented in the playoffs how hard it was to keep the Chargers’ grounded because of the expectations for this team and because of the perfect record. After winning the WPIAL title, Rodriguez said, “You try to tell high school kids to not read the press or believe the hype, but it’s difficult.”
But the COVID-19 pandemic also made it difficult. Across the state, OLSH saw teams forfeit playoff games and seasons end because of a COVID-19 case. Could it happen to an OLSH team that had so much potential?
“The uncertainty of a shutdown is what made it hard,” Rodriguez said.
Like every team in Pennsylvania, OLSH was shut down for three weeks for part of December and early January, under the orders of Gov. Tom Wolf. But OLSH also had a shutdown for a few days later in the season because of COVID-19.
“We tried to have the approach of ‘Hey, we have one more game, one more game,’” Rodriguez said. “We tried to keep them focused on it’s all about the next game. We believed the boys bought into that and a lot of the reason they bought in was because of COVID and because they knew they were fortunate to have the next game.
“We knew it could all be shut down at any time, so whenever
we said, ‘Hey, we’re playing tomorrow,’ there was excitement.”
As far as on the court, nothing could shut down OLSH. The Chargers’ closest game was the season opener Dec. 11 when they defeated North Catholic, 80-74. No team came within double digits of OLSH the rest of the season. The next-closest game was the PIAA championship in Hershey when the Chargers defeated Constitution of Philadelphia, 62-49. Constitution defeated OLSH in the PIAA title game three years earlier.
While many teams dominate in the regular season, OLSH’s dominance extended throughout the postseason. The Chargers won four WPIAL playoff games by an average of 29.8 points, and three PIAA games by an average of 22.3. Overall, OLSH won seven postseason games by an average of 26.6 points.
The team was led by two players who, at least statistically, are one of the best one-two scoring punches in WPIAL history. Senior point guard Dante Spadafora averaged 18.7 points a game and junior guard Jake DiMichele averaged 29.1. Spadafora, a West Liberty University recruit, finished his career with 1,792 points. DiMichele has 1,813 points with one more season to play.
Spadafora’s sophomore brother, Rocco, was also a starter and became a key defensive player. OLSH was fortunate to have two transfers this year in junior Dawson Summers and sophomore Bryson Kirschner. Summers (6 feet 4) came from Quigley because the school closed and Kirschner (6-3) transferred from New Brighton. Those two played big roles with their inside play. Sophomore B.J. Vaughn provided a big boost off the bench.
“Dante and Jake’s leadership and the way they carried themselves permeated through the whole team,” Rodriguez said. “Then we had some kids who joined us who really came through.
“But this was all about the players. I didn’t score one point this season. It’s not about the X’s and O’s. It’s about the Jimmys and Joes. Anybody who coaches for a long time knows you need good players. Not only did we have good players, but I had a tremendous coaching staff.”
Rodriguez sang the praises of top assistants Rick Romesburg and Dave Quinn.
But the man who led the charge was still Rodriguez, who, because of his success and FBI positions, has to be one of the most interesting coaches in high school basketball. A New York native, Rodriguez worked for the FBI against such things as drug trafficking, organized crime, counterterrorism and was once responsible for the creation of Central and South America strategic and organizational intelligence branches. He coordinated federal agency resources for Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville and was named the FBI’s Chief Inspector in 2006.
Rodriguez has been coaching for decades. He was once the coach at Windber High in Johnstown and made it to the PIAA semifinals one year. He also coached in other states.
“The FBI encourages you to get involved in the community,” Rodriguez said. “Coaching was my way of giving back.”
This year’s OLSH team became only the 10th in 122 years of WPIAL basketball to win three consecutive titles. Rodriguez won more games in the past five seasons (121-16 record) than any coach in the WPIAL. His record at OLSH since he was hired in 2008 is 246-75.
Rodriguez and his wife, Deborah, have two grown children who live out of town. Rodriguez has been in the Pittsburgh area since 2008 when he was hired to be in charge of the Pittsburgh FBI office. His boss for a number of years was Robert Mueller.
Now that he is retired from the FBI, how long will he continue to coach? Rodriguez laughed at the question and said, “Until my wife says that’s enough.”