After leading
St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) to over 400 wins and five NJSIAA Tournament of Champions titles in 23 seasons, head coach Kevin Boyle has accepted the head coaching position at
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.).
Boyle confirmed the move via telephone Thursday afternoon.
"That's accurate," Boyle said. "It's a beautiful campus, great academics and they have been really good in basketball. (Former head coach) Kevin Sutton did a great job with the program and hopefully we can take it to that next level where we are in the top two or three in the country every year."
Kevin Boyle's last game at St. Patrick against rival St. Anthony drew over 8,000 fans to the Rutgers Athletic Center.
Photo by Lonnie Webb
The decision to leave a program he built into a national power with names like Kyrie Irving, Dexter Strickland, Corey Fisher, Al Harrington and Samuel Dalembert was a difficult one.
"I did that (informed St. Patrick administrators) this afternoon and I'm going to finish the school year here," Boyle said. "It's very hard after 23 years with all the friendships you build with staff members and you have great love for your players.
"It's very tough, but at this time I felt this was best for myself and my family. There is some uncertainty surrounding inner-city schools like ours and how long they can fight the fight and keep the doors open."
St. Patrick went 26-1 in 2010-11 and won the prestigious City of Palms Classic in December. The Celtics held the No. 1 ranking in MaxPreps.com's Xcellent 25 for five weeks before a playoff loss to rival St. Anthony.
While stars Michael Gilchrist (Kentucky) and Derrick Gordon (Western Kentucky) were set to move on, promising young talent like Jason Boswell, Austin Colbert, Dakari Johnson and Hakim Saintil seemed poised to carry the torch.
Boyle is regarded as one of the top coaches nationally at the high school level and has been rumored as a candidate for Division I college jobs in the past. He was named the Naismith National Coach of the Year last month.
Following a 22-4 season, Montverde Academy parted ways with Sutton under cloudy circumstances last week. The school has been a pipeline for Division I signees in recent years, including Solomon Alabi (Florida State), James Bell (Villanova), Marcus Capers (Washington State), Dashan Harris (Texas A&M), Idong Ibok (Michigan State), Jamail Jones (Marquette), Luc Mbah a Moute (UCLA) and Haukur Palsson (Maryland).
Montverde Academy has also been a landing spot for many international prospects. Players from Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, New Zealand and Nigeria dotted the roster last season.
