Knights working hard for hoops vet
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Dale Florio may be new to the boys’ basketball team at West Windsor-Plainsboro High North, but he’s certainly not new to basketball.
Florio, an assistant coach at Princeton High the past five years, is the new head coach at WW-P North. This will be the first high school head coaching job for the basketball coaching veteran, who takes over for Michael Jackson as the Knights’ head coach.
”I’ve been coaching basketball at the high school, AAU, travel and recreation level for close to 20 years,” Florio said. “But when you get in that first seat you feel like a kid at Christmas. It’s a great opportunity. There is nothing like running your own program.
”I enjoyed my time at Princeton and the people there were terrific. I was prepared to go back and help Jason (Carter), but then this opportunity came up. Being at Princeton was great preparation for me.”
Florio takes over a program that won just seven games last year and returns just one of its top nine scorers from a year ago. But as the Knights prepare for Friday’s season-opener against Allentown, Florio likes what he has seen so far.
”When I interviewed for the job, Mike Zapicchi, the principal, and Marty Flynn, the athletic director, both told me that I’d like the kids and that they would work hard and respond,” Florio said. “So far, that has been the case.
”Obviously, we want to win and we want to improve on last year’s record. We’ll set goals as a team. We want to improve our record and hopefully make the state tournament. We have a lot of guys who can play. It’s a matter of how quickly we come together and can compete.”
Florio, who played his high school basketball at Immaculata in Somerville and collegiately at Allegheny College, has coached the sport at a variety of levels. A one-time president of the Montgomery Basketball Association, he was also an assistant at Immaculata earlier in his career.
As a first-year head coach, he appreciates the fact he has two very capable coaches working with him on his staff.
”Frank Moore has been great to work with,” Florio said. “He knows the kids and the kids know him, so that has been a big help. I don’t want to make too many changes for the kids, so we’re taking what I saw from them the past couple of years and putting in our personal touches. I think the kids appreciate that we’re not trying to turn it upside down.
”Jeff Johnson, our freshman coach, was a walk-on at Wagner and he’s been working with the kids at all three levels. I think the three of us work well together.”
With the first game still a few days away, Florio appreciates the effort his players have put in to prepare for the season.
”Being a new coach, the kids have been very accepting and done everything we’ve asked them to do,” Florio said. “We’re not big, so we’re going to have to get points in transition. The kids like to run. It’s been fun getting to know them.”

