MARLBORO – Mike Nausedas has stepped down as the varsity boys basketball coach at Marlboro High School after a decade at the helm and after leading the Mustangs to the Shore Conference Tournament title and the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional tournament crown during the 2021-22 season.
His resignation was accepted during a recent meeting of the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education.
Nausedas had a vision of turning the Mustangs into a top tier Shore Conference program when he took over as coach a decade ago. He was not concerned about taking over a program that went 1-19 during the season before he took the reins.
As a teacher at the Marlboro Middle School, Nausedas knew there were a lot of talented players in the community and that the Marlboro Basketball Association was doing a great job developing players.
He believed the ingredients were there for the high school program to achieve success. What he needed to do to was to keep those players in Marlboro and not have them elect to attend a private school or another school in the FRHSD.
In the end, Nausedas achieved his goal as he led the Mustangs to new heights. His teams went 153-94 in a decade, played in three Shore Conference Tournament championship games, two state sectional tournament championship games and one Group IV state tournament championship game.
“We put Marlboro on the map,” Nausedas said this week. “I have had a lot of great assistant coaches over the years. Everyone bought into what we were trying to do and we were able to win with homegrown kids. We had a lot of dedicated people at the youth level. It was a perfect process with how it all panned out.”
During an historic 2021-22 season, the Mustangs won 28 games (a record for the program), and the school’s first Shore Conference Tournament championship and its first Central Jersey Group IV state sectional tournament title.
Marlboro’s season ended with a 70-63 loss to Elizabeth High School in the Group IV state championship game. The Mustangs finished the season with a 28-3 record.
Nausedas said he stepped down to spend more time with his family.
“It’s tough to leave something you built, but family comes first. I have a daughter who is going to be a sophomore at Brick Township High School. My son is going into eighth grade. I haven’t had time these past few years to watch them play. It’s time for me to be with them.”
Nausedas will continue to teach at Marlboro Middle School and said he has spoken with Marlboro High School Supervisor of Extracurricular Activities Dave Ryden about helping the Mustangs’ new coach prepare for the 2022-23 season.
“I just can’t completely walk away. I told Dave I want to talk to whoever gets the job and help them out in any way,” he said.
Since announcing his resignation, Nausedas said, many former players and coaches have reached out to congratulate him on his career at Marlboro. He said he is thankful for the relationships he built from his first varsity team (2012-13) to his last (2021-22).
Those strong bonds paved the way to helping the Mustangs make history in 2021-22.
After two straight seasons of heartbreaking losses in tournament championship games, Nausedas and the Mustangs persevered to win the school’s first state sectional tournament title.
Coaching his team in the Group IV state championship game against Elizabeth High School marked the end to Nausedas’ “amazing” 10-year run with Marlboro. His vision of success had come true and he could not have asked for a better ending with his team.
“It’s like a storybook ending. We did a lot of amazing things. To go out on top like that (winning the conference and state sectional tournament titles) was amazing. I am very happy these guys gave me this,” he said.