The Nomads Of Long Island Hoops
Two well-known and equally well-traveled coaches landed at new jobs this season. And in each case, the stop is the fourth of their respective careers.
Dom Savino was most recently the boys basketball coach at Sachem, and when the district expanded, Sachem North. Now he's taken over at Riverhead. Savino has also coached at Center Moriches and Rocky Point. All those stops make him the most widely traveled head boys basketball coach on the Island perhaps ever, but at least since 1967, as far back as statistician George Davila has records.
But wait, Savino wasn't the only coach to jump to another program this off-season. Brian Carey has run the summer program at Long Island Lutheran for more than a decade, helping to develop the talent that made LuHigh a force. Ronn Hall and most recently, Chris Persoo, were the beneficiaries.
No longer. Carey jumped from King Park, where he transformed the Kingsmen into a playoff factor, to finally take the head job at LuHigh. Carey also coached at Commack and Half Hollow Hills East. So this is his fourth stop as well.
In Carey's case, he knew what he was getting into. And after a few down seasons, the fortunes of LuHigh might be looking up. Savino, on the other hand, stepped into a tough spot. The word in Riverhead is that former coach Jerry Weismann, a good man and veteran coach, did not go quietly.
In each case, the changes at the top promise to have a ripple effect through the entire hoops community. We'll be watching closely to see what impact Savino and Carey have at new schools. And I'll start the clock now to see how long these guys can resist moving on to yet another challenge.