DZIKAS DEPARTS
Tony Dzikas announces departure from Shen as head basketball coach
TROY, NY » Just days after claiming the Suburban Council Championship Shenendehowa Boy’s Basketball Head Coach Tony Dzikas announced that he would be stepping down from his position.
“After 16 years as Head Boys Basketball Coach here at Shenendehowa I have decided it is time to step away from the game as head varsity coach,” said Dzikas in an announcement tweeted out by Shen Athletics Monday. “I always told myself I would coach as hard as I could for as long as I could.”
Dzikas helped lead the Plainsmen to a Class AA title run in 2015 and then to the final four the next season in 2016. Current Atlanta Hawk Kevin Huerter was a member of both those teams.
Because of those seasons Dzikas was named the Basketball Coaches Association of New York Class AA Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2016. He was also named the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Basketball Coach of the Year in 2015. Dzikas was also named North
east Sectional Coach of the Year in 2015 naming him the best coach in New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode
Island, and Vermont.
“When the day came that I couldn’t put my entire heart and soul into it then I would step aside and let someone else have the privilege of leading this program,” said Dzikas. “That has been my exact experience coaching Shen — an absolute privilege.”
Shen claimed the Suburban Council Championship Friday night, 57-54.
“Thank you Shen for allowing me to do what I love for so long,” said Dzikas. “I will always bleed green and Shen will always be a part of me.”
Under Dzikas Shen claimed Section II, Class
AA titles in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020. Dzikas finishes with a 223-37 record in Suburban Council competition with Shen.
Dzikas is a fifth-grade teacher at Tesago Elementary School and is also the Director of the Koubek Basketball Camps that run during the summer months.