Hoops stays in-house for coach
By: Bob Nuse
Matt Levinson is hoping familiarity helps bring some stability to the Princeton Day School boys’ basketball program.
Levinson is the Panthers’ new head coach, the fourth to lead the program in the last five years. But one thing Levinson has over the three coaches that have come before him is that he’s a teacher at the school and he sees the players all day long.
"I teach here and see the kids every day," said Levinson, who had previously had turns as the varsity girls’ soccer and boys’ soccer coach at PDS. "I have taught a number of them in class, so they know me. We have a couple of seniors Zach Schectel and Andrew Dowdie who will be playing for their third coach in four years, so there has been a lot of turnover.
"It’s tough for the kids to make a transition to a new coach every year. I’ve been at PDS for 14 years and I hope to be here a long time. So hopefully I can bring some stability to the program, which is something I think the kids really need."
Levinson takes over for Kyle Zosulus, who lasted just one year after Ahmed El-Nokali had coached for two years. Prior to that, Charley Ross served a two-year stint as head coach. Levinson was very successful as a head coach in soccer, and now makes a return to coaching basketball, which he did previously at PDS.
"I was an assistant coach with the basketball team back when Dave First was the head coach," said Levinson, who played high school basketball in Maryland and then soccer in college. "I worked closely with him and we had success as a program in those years. This is a good opportunity to get back and do it again. This was something I was looking to get back into and now seemed like a good time."
Levinson takes over a team with very little experience left on the roster from last year, when the team finished 7-17. But he hopes that with the relatively young group he has right now, he can grow the program year by year.
"PDS has a great tradition with basketball and I’d like to be able to get the program back to that," Levinson said. "The guys we have are very committed to basketball and want to improve and get better. We want to get the program back on its feet. I think the kids and the coaches are all committed to that."
Levinson will have some help, with two of the other three coaches in the program also teaching in the school. Tory Quigley, Paris McLean and Rocky Calvo give Levinson a solid staff.
"We have three in-house coaches," said Levinson, who as girls’ soccer coach led the Panthers to a pair of state prep championships. "That was a big thing for us. We wanted to have people in house who knew the kids and would see them every day. They can help them get excited about playing and being part of the program.
"It’s hard on the kids with outside coaches. Those guys had other jobs and sometimes the practices would be late, going until 8 o’clock. Now we practice from 3:30-5:30 and the kids go home and get their school work done."
And for the two hours a day they’re at basketball practice, Levinson hopes to be able to build a strong foundation for the Panthers’ basketball program.

