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Top High School BB Coaches in Delaware

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delawaresportsjunkie

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Sep 4, 2015
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We always look at player and school rankings but here is my list of coaches I believe are the best in the state. considerations were given to the actual talent each coach has to work with. Please post your top 10 or 20 for comparison.

1. Stan Waterman, Sanford
2. Steve Christenseen, William Penn
3. Ralph Flowers, Concord
4. Rod Griffin, St. Georges
5. Terrell Myers, St. Andrews
6. Kenny Avent, Del Castle
7. Brendan Haley, Salesianum
8. Shannon Mc Cants, Newark
9. Dick Rago, St. Elizabeth
10. Lisa Sullivan, Mt. Pleasant
11. Andrew Mears, Smyrna
12. Mark Tobin, Caravel
13. John Pierce, Polytech
14. Stephen Wison, Dover
15
16. Tom Tabb, AI Dupont
17. Tony Coleman, Hodgson
18. Art Doakes, Seaford
19. Stephen Re, Cape Henlopen
20. Rashaan Matthews, Howard
 
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I have no idea about the other 19 but you got the first one right!
 
Not bashing your opinion but this list is not accurate. Stan Waterman is by far the best coach overall with Haley a close 2nd. But to have some guys on here who just began coaching or have been at a great basketball school for years with no chips over guys who have done it for years is ridiculous. Matt Rubincam from charter has made the state tournament in the two of the past 3 years with absolutely no talent in the toughest conference. They have beat some pretty good teams the past 3 years with NO talent. I would like to see some of these coaches do it with a school like that. Most would have resigned from the school by now with the talent he gets. Hard working kids but just not basketball talented. Give Rubincam a team that constantly gets good BASKETBALL kids and I guarantee he would have a couple state titles by now. JMO
 
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Truestatements1, you are right i overlooked Rubincam, he is indeed a talented coach. Top notch. When I put this list together time on the job, or chips was a secondary consideration. I watch how coaches coach and run their program. A bad coach can win of talent alone, so I wanted this list to be purely coaching with no institutional or social factors. U make a valid point about the fact that factors outside coaches control affect success. What I do is sit close as possible to benches and listen to what's being said. Then I watch how teams execute fundamentally, work ethics, discipline, attitude. Lastly I look for how players improve under that coach. By April I'll have a better revised list.
 
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delawaresportsjunkie said:
Truestatements1, you are right i overlooked Rubincam, he is indeed a talented coach. Top notch. When I put this list together time on the job, or chips was a secondary consideration. I watch how coaches coach and run their program. A bad coach can win of talent alone, so I wanted this list to be purely coaching with no institutional or social factors. U make a valid point about the fact that factors outside coaches control affect success. What I do is sit close as possible to benches and listen to what's being said. Then I watch how teams execute fundamentally, work ethics, discipline, attitude. Lastly I look for how players improve under that coach. By April I'll have a better revised list.
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I like that point!!!
 
I went to the Glasgow vs. Mt. Pleasant game. I like what the coach at Glasgow is doing. My nephew plays for him. He is doing a great job. He really knows the game. Watch out for that team.
 
The Glasgow coach is a very good coach. Some do not know that he played professional ball in France. He knows the X's and O's about the game and is great with the kids.
 
I have mixed feelings about Glasgow, but would agree coach Jeane definitely has a bright future. My mixed feeling comes from them not giving Anthony Smith an opportunity to become a head coach. He is now their volunteer assistant. Smith is a talented coach behind the scenes so I don't know whether to credit Smith or the head coach for what I see out on the floor. I think some school program would benefit greatly if they gave Smith an opportunity to be head coach.
 
Is Coach Smith the guy with the gold tooth? If so, trust me when I say he should not take credit for anything. From what I observed and heard from the players, he is not a good coach. As far as the head coach, he is really good. I really think his name will be mentioned as one of the best before the season ends.
 
Mind4thegame, lol yes that's him. Unfortunately the gold tooth doesn't help matters but from all reports he is solid coach and good guy. I hope the Glasgow Coach does well, I especially want to see the kids do well. With the departure of Coach Perkins a few years ago it was my hope that another talented leader would take over that program. Glasgow is a handful and like with many public schools the number one battle is always the social issues. Those issues require a coach that is not only a basketball coach but willing to put forth extra effort with discipline, monitoring grades year round, and even having forced study halls as a condition to be a part of the program. Without this extra effort its very difficult to be successful at some of these public schools. Schools like Glasgow and Christiana take all the kids, many who are not welcomed at other schools. Its a difficult battle year to year and unlike in the past talented kids & their parents are not hanging around if they can get a better academic and athletic situation.
 
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Sanford is very fortunate to have gotten Coach Perkins. Very solid.
 
Yeah in Atlanta, it is the same porblem. The education throughout the country is killing the public schools. Too much funding goes to Charter schools nowadays.
Well, I'll wait and see with Coach Smith. But the head coach is simply impressive. He's knowledge of the game and how his interactions with his players has been wow to me.
My nephew is a much better basketball player now than he was two month ago.
 
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Don't forget Mike Starkey at Lake Forest. Was amazing coach while at Smyrna and will get LF turned around soon.
 
I am shocked that no one mentioned Bobby Spath of Milford...Are you guys watching or does the Southern Henlopen teams not officially qualified to be on this esteemed list??? As a first year coach he won coach of the year over a Polytech team win who had many more wins...they had it right...where were you junkie???..first title in like 300 years...wins 9 out of first 10 games this year 5-0 in conference this year....hmmm...does he not qualify because his teams don't have the talent of the northern counterparts?? You said you took talent in consideration but clearly you did not!!..Willis are we talkin bout managing the best talent in the state or good old fashion coaching??......Did the maker of this list have his fav NBA coach of all time as Phil Jackson...probably anyone on your ficticious list could have won as many titles with Jordan...Kobe in prime Shaq....how many games would the 76ers win if they all coverted to Zen...his influence has really helped the Knickerbockers huh?... Spath may be out manned against many opponents deep in the playoffs but he will get most out of his players and more importantly teach them how to be better boys and men by earning their respect and love!!!..As far as actual coaching, intellect, integrity and likability..he should easily be in the top 5 in the state....not even honorable mention???? Come on Huckleberries!!
 
delawaresportsjunkie said:
We always look at player and school rankings but here is my list of coaches I believe are the best in the state. considerations were given to the actual talent each coach has to work with. Please post your top 10 or 20 for comparison.

1. Stan Waterman, Sanford
2. Steve Christenseen, William Penn
3. Ralph Flowers, Concord
4. Rod Griffin, St. Georges
5. Terrell Myers, St. Andrews
6. Kenny Avent, Del Castle
7. Brendan Haley, Salesianum
8. Shannon Mc Cants, Newark
9. Dick Rago, St. Elizabeth
10. Lisa Sullivan, Mt. Pleasant
11. Andrew Mears, Smyrna
12. Mark Tobin, Caravel
13. John Pierce, Polytech
14. Stephen Wison, Dover
15 Anthony Wright, Tatnall
16. Tom Tabb, AI Dupont
17. Tony Coleman, Hodgson
18. Art Doakes, Seaford
19. Stephen Re, Cape Henlopen
20. Rashaan Matthews, Howard
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Thought provoking list. Not sure I'd put Rago and McCants in the top 10. I think you have Haley placed appropriately. Someone suggested 2nd. Not deserving of that yet. Let's see what he can do minus Donte and O'Neill. Anyone could have won with those two studs.
 
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CapitalGuy said:
I am shocked that no one mentioned Bobby Spath of Milford...Are you guys watching or does the Southern Henlopen teams not officially qualified to be on this esteemed list??? As a first year coach he won coach of the year over a Polytech team win who had many more wins...they had it right...where were you junkie???..first title in like 300 years...wins 9 out of first 10 games this year 5-0 in conference this year....hmmm...does he not qualify because his teams don't have the talent of the northern counterparts?? You said you took talent in consideration but clearly you did not!!..Willis are we talkin bout managing the best talent in the state or good old fashion coaching??......Did the maker of this list have his fav NBA coach of all time as Phil Jackson...probably anyone on your ficticious list could have won as many titles with Jordan...Kobe in prime Shaq....how many games would the 76ers win if they all coverted to Zen...his influence has really helped the Knickerbockers huh?... Spath may be out manned against many opponents deep in the playoffs but he will get most out of his players and more importantly teach them how to be better boys and men by earning their respect and love!!!..As far as actual coaching, intellect, integrity and likability..he should easily be in the top 5 in the state....not even honorable mention???? Come on Huckleberries!!
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Coach Spath has done a good job at Milford and the improved attitude and play has been shown on the floor. I think he is having a tougher time this year and it is going to be interesting to see how he handles the second half. The injury to Kravitz has hurt them, along with the lack of a true point guard. Nesmith has fallen off the planet and is in a horrible slump right now. These are challenges that good coaches find a way to overcome and fix. Milford has some big games coming up over the next two weeks with Dover and Woodbridge. A good coach finds a way to fix the problems their team has been having, so far the jury is still out.I do think the challenges he has faced this season will serve him well down the road.
 
S path has done a good job at Milford but no where near the top 5 coaches in the state. Stan, Re, Starkey, Flowers and Sals coach are all better coaches. It's unfair to Spath to put his name out like this because he had little works. He needs some years to put in some work. Tourney wins and a conference chip would serve him well.
 
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@Ikeyfbst2 I had noticed Nesmith filling up the box score during the beginning of the season then I saw him vs Smyrna put up 2 pts in a blowout loss to Smyrna where all he did was toss up 3s all game. I walked away from that game unimpressed but it was my first time seeing him so I chalked it up to maybe an off night for him...then I went down to Milford & witnessed the same exact thing in a game where they loss to St. Thomas More where I think he finished w/ 6 pts. I think he may want to start trying to get some easy buckets down low to get his confidence back as a shooter to get him out of the slump. I like the Murray kid...Milford seems to live or die by the 3 but he mixes it up a little bit as well & is very scrappy.
 
Cape coach......has shown in short time if u demand players will respond
St. e s,,,,,,,,,many years always gets players to play
St. marks.......love to watch them play
Sanford......talent plus discipline equals their success
Concord....no one cares or works harder
 
What is the critera for evaluating coaches?
Consistant quality program...Stan
Player development for the next level...Terell Myers, Stan
Developing student athletes/ young men?
Advancing DE basketball?
There is much more to coaching than wins?
Courious to see what the board feels what is relevant these days...
 
J12 said:
@Ikeyfbst2 I had noticed Nesmith filling up the box score during the beginning of the season then I saw him vs Smyrna put up 2 pts in a blowout loss to Smyrna where all he did was toss up 3s all game. I walked away from that game unimpressed but it was my first time seeing him so I chalked it up to maybe an off night for him...then I went down to Milford & witnessed the same exact thing in a game where they loss to St. Thomas More where I think he finished w/ 6 pts. I think he may want to start trying to get some easy buckets down low to get his confidence back as a shooter to get him out of the slump. I like the Murray kid...Milford seems to live or die by the 3 but he mixes it up a little bit as well & is very scrappy.
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Murray had been playing more of an outside game until Kravitz got hurt. He is capable of penetrating inside and actually did some of that against Seaford. Milford put the ball in his hands down the stretch against Seaford, in a tight game, and he delivered with 2 baskets and 4 of 5 from the line to close out a tough win.
Neismith is just in a slump, it happens to all shooters. If I was Spath I would just have him keep shooting against Dover, no matter what. I believe he just needs to shoot his way out of it and they might as well start getting it done now. IMO it looks as if he just needs to get his stroke back, the way to do that is to keep on shooting.
Kravitz is of the belief that he will be back in a few weeks, so that could be huge for them. He really was able to help them break down the zone. With Murray having been forced into that role for a while, it could actually end up serving Milford well in the long run.
Real tough task this Thursday.
 
peachbasket1891 said:
What is the critera for evaluating coaches?
Consistant quality program...Stan
Player development for the next level...Terell Myers, Stan
Developing student athletes/ young men?
Advancing DE basketball?
There is much more to coaching than wins?
Courious to see what the board feels what is relevant these days...
Click to expand...

I agree wins don't define good coaching .. But player development and learning (education and building iq both on and off court) Just depends how much the parent/coaching play
 
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Couldn't agree more with the two above comments. I started this list to give recognition to coaches based on the many criterias of good coaching mentioned however it will take me about another month to get this more accurate because there are many good coaches I need to add.
 
Ikeyfbst2 said:
Murray had been playing more of an outside game until Kravitz got hurt. He is capable of penetrating inside and actually did some of that against Seaford. Milford put the ball in his hands down the stretch against Seaford, in a tight game, and he delivered with 2 baskets and 4 of 5 from the line to close out a tough win.
Neismith is just in a slump, it happens to all shooters. If I was Spath I would just have him keep shooting against Dover, no matter what. I believe he just needs to shoot his way out of it and they might as well start getting it done now. IMO it looks as if he just needs to get his stroke back, the way to do that is to keep on shooting.
Kravitz is of the belief that he will be back in a few weeks, so that could be huge for them. He really was able to help them break down the zone. With Murray having been forced into that role for a while, it could actually end up serving Milford well in the long run.
Real tough task this Thursday.
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Seaford was missing a junior who usually puts up! Jaquan correct. So didn't that affect Seaford?
 
J12 said:
@Ikeyfbst2 I had noticed Nesmith filling up the box score during the beginning of the season then I saw him vs Smyrna put up 2 pts in a blowout loss to Smyrna where all he did was toss up 3s all game. I walked away from that game unimpressed but it was my first time seeing him so I chalked it up to maybe an off night for him...then I went down to Milford & witnessed the same exact thing in a game where they loss to St. Thomas More where I think he finished w/ 6 pts. I think he may want to start trying to get some easy buckets down low to get his confidence back as a shooter to get him out of the slump. I like the Murray kid...Milford seems to live or die by the 3 but he mixes it up a little bit as well & is very scrappy.
Click to expand...

29 of January @J12 be in Milford ....
 
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Stan Waterman is hands down the best, if not one of the best in the country. It is the unseen factors that separate him from the others. He does so much for his players off the court that doesn't always get noticed. His first and most important goal is preparing his players for the next level and seeing them go on and succeed in life. He isn't all about wins and losses, however they seem to come frequently cause his players respect him so much and really by into his system.
 
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Next-Up said:
Seaford was missing a junior who usually puts up! Jaquan correct. So didn't that affect Seaford?
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I really don't get to see other schools and I am not to familiar with them as a result of that. The one thing I do know, is that Milford is struggling.
 
crazaj said:
Stan Waterman is hands down the best, if not one of the best in the country. It is the unseen factors that separate him from the others. He does so much for his players off the court that doesn't always get noticed. His first and most important goal is preparing his players for the next level and seeing them go on and succeed in life. He isn't all about wins and losses, however they seem to come frequently cause his players respect him so much and really by into his system.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's time for Stan to step his coaching up and take over a struggling UD team
 
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@Ikeyfbst2 I saw Milford for the third time this year last night & it was the best/hardest fought game that I have seen them put up for 4 quarters. They didn't win the game & I didn't expect them to beat Dover but they competed & didn't back down. Milford's big guy #30 played well...it doesn't look pretty but he battles down low & was going hard against Dover's bigs. On one possession he blocked 2 dunk attempts by Allen & Hoskins where most kids at this level would have just got out of the way in fear of getting dunked on...in the other games I had seen he barely even played but I would use him more especially defensively against teams w/ bigs. A 68-54 loss to Dover is nothing to hold their head down about. I haven't seen Woodbridge yet this year but if Milford plays as hard as they did last night I would think they stand a chance vs Woodbridge...I'm still thinking about heading down south to get a look @ Woodbridge tonight vs a young athletic CR team.
 
Yes they looked much better last night.Believe they would have given Woodbridge a game last night. Milford played a good four quarters, just could not make the big shot when they needed it, the shots were there to be had too! Neismith (22) had 17 points and looks to be rounding into shape. Kravitz (23) returned for some action, was rusty but played pretty decent. 30 is Marques Correa, he also became the starting QB for Milford in the middle of football season this year. He has NEVER played organized basketball until this season, but really has the tools. Watching that pair of blocked shots was pretty awesome. You are so right, a lot of kids would of backed down sandwiched between two big men like that. I was not expecting that second block.
 
Next-Up said:
29 of January @J12 be in Milford ....
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@Next-Up I will be in the building tonight to check out Woodbridge for the first time this year tonight vs an athletic Milford team for 1st place in the Henlopen South hoping to see a good game & come away impressed.
 
Because milford is undefeated, if milford wins they will go to 8-0 in conference and everyone else will have at least 2 conference losses, essentially milford can almost lock the south up tonight with a win. if woodbridge wins tonight it is a tie and will remain that way until one of them loses a conference game. if it stays that way there will be a head to head game for the conference. sounds pretty exciting to me.
 
How bout Milford coach run Nehsmith off a screen. I see why he has been struggling they run ZERO plays for him and no one sets a screen for him.

On a side note someone please check on Next-up I know he sick lol. Lil Corey had a sick dunk tonight tho. Needs to improve on his jump shot to be a serious D-1 candidate. Great game and good atmosphere.
 
That 1-3-1 zone was a good call. Great coaching adjustment. It took Corbin out of his game. He couldn't just drive and penetrate the lane.
 
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