Somerville’s Joe D’Alessandro is the CN Boys Basketball Coach of the Year

Coming off of a season in which the Somerville High School boys basketball team finished 18-3, won the Skyland Conference Valley Division title and advanced to the sectional semifinal, the Pioneers wondered how they would be able to top that heading into this year.

Turns out, Somerville outdid itself this season and went beyond topping last year’s success. Coach Joe D’Alessandro led the Pioneers to a 24-4 record, which tied for the third best record in program history, won the Valley Division title for the 14th time in 26 years at 10-0, advanced to the Somerset County final and advanced to the NJSIAA North 2 Group III sectional semifinals. D’Alessandro also won his 500th career game with a 46-38 victory over Warren Hills on Jan. 26.

This is why D’Alessandro is the Courier News Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

“(This year) was different in that my best year we had previously was in 1999, and we had a lot of talent, not to say we didn’t have talent enough to have the year we had,” said D’Alessandro, who was elected to Somerville’s Hall of Fame last fall. “I think we had such a great year for the first time in 16 years and tied for third best record in school history with 24-4, and it’s really a credit to the kids and how much they improved. We had a good year last year, but we lost two inside kids, pretty good post players and people didn’t expect us to be as good, give the seniors credit.”

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D’Alessandro, who just finished his 26th season at the helm with Somerville, started his coaching career at the age of 21 at Montgomery and became the youngest coach in New Jersey. From there he moved to Bridgewater-East, then to Sayreville and his last stop before the Pioneers was at Lenape Valley. He took over at Somerville in 1990.

D’Alessandro said early on he molded his coaching style after Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, whom he met at basketball camps early in his career, as well as former Somerville athletic director and coach Neil Horne and former Somerville and Bernards coach Joe Poplowski, who was named Coach of the Year in 1975 and 1976.

“If you stay somewhere long enough to mold a good defensive team, good man-to-man defense, very disciplined on offense and that enabled us to be one of the better defensive teams year in and year out,” D’Alessandro said. “Offense is what we work on in the offseason, defense is what we spend 70 percent practicing on.

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“I would say our man-to-man, principles of ball movement and our motion off the ball is what we’ve been known for. I’ve been lucky, we’ve had some great kids and we’ve never had a bad season, we had 15 or more wins in every 26 years. I’m proud of the consistency through the years, we’ve never really had a bad year and that’s a credit to the kids who have played for me.”

The Pioneers started this season on a 16-game winning streak, and D’Alessandro credits his seniors for helping to lead the way. Senior Randy Walko led the team in scoring, averaging close to 23 points a game and finished with 621 points this season.

“He’s very passionate, he cares a lot about his players, and I think that’s what makes him so successful. Going into this year I didn’t expect us to have as successful of year, we lost two huge guys who were our mainstays in the paint, and I think our team really overachieved, and I think the reason was coach,” Walko said. “Everyone played disciplined on offense, and he drilled defense into our head, 75 percent of practices was on defense, so I think coach was a huge reason for why we did so well and to be part of his 500th win. It’s such a milestone, rarely any people can say that so to be a part of that was just ridiculous.”

This year’s squad with everything it accomplished will definitely hold a special place in D’Alessandro’s heart, and the legacy the seniors will leave behind can only bode well for seasons to come.

“This year really surprised a lot of people and we’ve had a great history at Somerville of great athletics,” D’Alessandro said. “I’m really proud of that and all of this without a kid or two that was all county last year coming back, and some teams had that, so I’m really proud of them and all the seniors, it’s just a great group of kids.”

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com