There will be a lot of new faces roaming the sidelines in NEPSAC boys basketball this winter.
By our count, there were 15 head coaching changes in the league this offseason. Three coaches took new opportunities, and 12 are first-time head coaches in NEPSAC, including multiple in Class AAA, A, B Large and B Small. There were no coaching changes this year in Class AA.
If a coaching change is not listed below, email us (steve.hewitt@basketballjournal.com) with the details and we will add them to this list.
Class AAA
Patrick Ewing Jr., Vermont Academy
The son of the New York Knicks legend and Basketball Hall of Famer, Ewing Jr. was announced as the new head coach of Vermont Academy on Oct. 14 following the offseason departures of former head coach John Zall and then Connor Merrill. Ewing Jr. played in college at Indiana and Georgetown in the 2000s before embarking on a coaching career that most recently included a stop in the National Basketball League (NBL) in Australasia.
Paris Horne, Bridgton
Horne was one of two acting head coaches at Bridgton last season after the tragic midseason death of legendary head coach Whit Lesure. After a national search following the season, Horne was hired officially as the head coach. Horne is a Bridgton graduate who was a member of the Wolverines’ Class AAA championship team in 2007 before playing at St. John’s and enjoying a professional career. He returned to Bridgton in 2019 to join the coaching staff.
Justin Perron, Newman
Perron, who spent the last three seasons at St. Mark’s and led the Lions to the Class B Large championship last season, was announced as Newman’s new head coach in May following Jackson Johnson’s departure to IMG Academy in Florida. Perron, a former assistant at Clark University, was on the Northfield Mount Hermon staff in 2020-21 and 2021-22 under John Carroll, who is Newman’s basketball advisor. Perron takes over a Newman program that won three championships last season – Class AAA, NEBL and the national prep title.
Luke Rosinski, Brewster
Brewster is back in NEPSAC following several seasons in the Nike EYBL Scholastic after longtime head coach Jason Smith left to take over Masters Academy International. Rosinski, a New Hampshire native who played at Kimball Union and then UNH, was hired as the new head coach in May. He spent the last three seasons as a coach at Hargrave Military Academy.
NEW ERA: Why Luke Rosinski is ready to lead at Brewster
Class A
Ellen Bair, Deerfield
Bair debuted on the sidelines for Deerfield during the NEPSAC Scholastic Showcases in June. Her resume includes head coaching stops at Linden Hall School for Girls in Pennsylvania, where she won three PIAA District 3 championships, and the Shipley School in Philadelphia. She also coached Philly Rise to a Nike EYBL circuit national championship in 2023. Bair takes over a team coming off the No. 3 seed in last season’s Class A playoffs.
Jack Freeman, Nobles
Freeman’s appointment as Nobles’ head coach was the last NEPSAC coaching domino to fall this offseason. A 2020 graduate of Nobles, Freeman was an assistant coach with the Bulldogs for the last two seasons under former head coach Lambros Papalambros. He also coaches with the Middlesex Magic as the program’s 17U HGAL coach. Freeman will bring familiarity and a sense of continuity this season as Nobles looks to build off being last season’s No. 1 seed in Class A.
Class B Large
Justin Feliz, Canterbury
Feliz was named interim head coach under unfortunate circumstances after head coach Brian Fruscio survived a series of five strokes this summer. Feliz has been an assistant for the last three seasons, a span in which Canterbury has made two Class B semifinal appearances in addition to last season’s Class B Large championship appearance.
Drew Gladstone, Greenwich Country Day
Gladstone spent five seasons on the staff at Northern Illinois, where he was the program’s associate head coach, before stepping back into the prep rankings to join Greenwich Country Day in May. From 2014-17, he was the head coach at St. Luke’s, where he led them to a 64-12 record, two Fairchester League championships and two NEPSAC championships. He was named Class C Coach of the Year twice.
Terrell Hollins, Middlesex
After spending seven seasons at Concord Academy, Hollins was hired at Middlesex in August. A highly-respected and well-connected coach in New England, Hollins has coached with the Middlesex Magic and is a co-founder of the Summer Draft League. He played college basketball at Brandeis, where he was a two-time All-UAA selection and led the Judges to four Div. 3 NCAA Tournament appearances.
NEXT CHAPTER: Inside Terrell Hollins' vision at Middlesex
Christopher Oroszko, Concord Academy
Oroszko, who was hired in September, has extensive college coaching experience, having been an associate head coach at American International in addition to the women’s head coach at Anna Maria and several more Div. 3 assistant stops. He previously coached junior varsity at St. John’s Shrewsbury. He takes over a program that returns standout junior Dereon Medina and senior Dylan Coren.
Jacob Werrick, Rivers
Werrick, a 2016 graduate of Rivers, was former head coach Keith Zalaski’s assistant for six seasons during a span in which the Red Wings won three Class B championships and two Independent School League titles. He was announced as Zalaski’s successor at the conclusion of last season. Rivers should once again be a Class B Large contender under Werrick, who returns standouts Jack Millward, Ikenna Okafor and Patrick Costello, in addition to several promising young pieces.
John Zall, St. Mark’s
Zall has built a reputation as one of the best coaches in the region after a successful five-year run at Vermont Academy, where he guided the Wildcats to the Class AAA championship in 2024 in addition to three consecutive national prep championship appearances before he took the job at St. Mark’s. He also spent five seasons at Trinity as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. Zall inherits a St. Mark’s team, the defending class champion, led by Luca Palermo, the Class B Large Player of the Year, and CJ Farrell, who had a terrific grassroots summer.
Class B Small
Donte Adams, Marianapolis
Adams, who spent the last four seasons at Woodstock Academy, was hired in June to take over at Marianapolis and succeed Tommy DiColella. He played collegiately at Cecil College, where he’s the program’s 11th all-time leading scorer and earned All-American honors.
Joe Amelio, King
Amelio was hired at King in May after a successful eight-year run at Scarsdale High School in New York, where he reached a sectional final in 2023 and sent several of his players to Division 1 schools. King was the No. 3 seed in last season’s Class B Small playoffs and advanced to the semifinals.
Dominique Langston, Pingree
Hired in May, Langston has more than 16 years of coaching experience at the high school and AAU levels, including as an assistant coach at Governor’s and the head coach of Teams Sims on the UA Rise circuit. The Connecticut native played at Quinnipiac and Southern Connecticut State during his college career.
