Legendary coach remembers roots

When Vincent Cannizzaro first walked through the doors at Christ the King in 1980, it was as a favor to his daughter Lisa.
Catholic teachers all over the city were on strike. So with the CK girls basketball season in danger, he took over.
Cannizzaro, who only coached boys at the CYO level before, did such a fine job, Father John Savage, the school’s principal at the time, asked him to stay on.
Twenty-seven years later, his passion for high school basketball remains. Although he left the Middle Village school eight years ago to take an assistant’s job at Stony Brook, Cannizzaro, a retired New York City police detective, has remained close to the program he built from the ground up into the nation’s elite, and the sport as a whole.
Last weekend, Cannizzaro organized the third annual National Recruiting Showcase, a series of seven non-league games pitting the top programs in the area against powerhouses from all over the country at Christ the King.
Locally, Mary Louis and Molloy represented Queens. Commack (Long Island), Potter’s House Christian Academy (Florida), Hoover (Ohio), and Staten Island’s St. John Villa and St. Peter’s also took part. So did Notre Dame Academy (Virginia) and Regis Jesuit (Colorado), teams that are ranked as high as No. 1 and No. 3 in the nation, respectively, by various scouting services.
“If Vinny’s going to run something, it’s going to be organized, it’s going to be competitive and it’s going to be well done,” said CK assistant coach Jill Cook, who played for Cannizzaro and coached by his side, too.
He coached at CK 19 years, winning 10 state Federation titles, 12 Catholic state crowns, 16 CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan championships, his Royals were voted USA Today’s mythical national champions three times and won 120 consecutive league games in a row.
“He’s the pioneer for girls high school basketball for what he did here,” said Potter’s House Christian Academy Coach Tony Bannister.
When coaches were contacted, they jumped at the offer. Besides knowing Cannizzaro, just getting the chance to play at famed Christ the King was an additional bonus.
“This is like coming to the Garden,” Texas A&M Coach Gary Blair said. “I’ve heard about this place all my life, but I’ve never been to Christ the King. … You want the national reputation, you come to Christ the King. This is the most well known program in the country.”
The weekend received kudos from all on hand.
The bonus was two-fold. Beyond seeing the national players in action with their high school team - a far better barometer than scouting them during the AAU season - others were noticed for the first time, too, against elite competition.
“It’s great to have the diversity of teams from all over the country and the high quality of games,” said University of Virginia assistant coach Jeff House.
It all started with Cannizzaro, “a living legend,” Blair said, who came up with the idea three years ago. Since amicably leaving Stony Brook, he has formed the National Recruiting Report, a scouting guide for college coaches on the nation’s finest high school recruits.
Cannizzaro has remained close to the program he turned into the nation’s preeminent powerhouse. The Middle Village native drops his wife off at the M train subway station on Metropolitan Avenue every day, just blocks away from the school. He stops in for games and practice from time to time, chats with CK head coach Bob Mackey and Cook.
He still misses it. Misses the championships and memories, the competition and the camaraderie. Most of all, he misses the experience of watching kids learn.
“The greatest part of coaching,” he said, “was the players, seeing them get better.”