By Marc Raimondi
Lost in having three different coaches in five months is the minutiae like knowing how to pronounce the new guy's name.
“Catala…Catalano…I don't know,” Archbishop Molloy sophomore Kelly Guerriero said. “I just call him Mr. C.”
That Mr. C she's talking about is Tom Catalanotto, the former Mary Louis assistant who was officially named the Molloy girls' basketball head coach last Thursday. It's not Dom Cecala, who was spurned in his attempt to take over the team on more than an interim basis after coaching the Stanners to their best season ever.
The immediate reaction when the players learned Cecala would not be their coach next year was shock, especially “considering that he led us to the championship this year,” sophomore Marielle Duryea said. In February, Molloy snapped Christ the King's eight-year league winning streak and a month later the Stanners became the first team to beat CK for the Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan championship in 23 years.
“We're really disappointed,” said Guerriero, who had played for Cecala with the AAU Xplosion since she was 9 years old before leaving after the season to join the NYC Heat, where, ironically, Catalanotto is a coach. “We're really, really shocked. We thought that Dom was definitely gonna get the job.”
Mike McCleary, Molloy's athletic director, had the final decision, but he was vague with his reasoning for choosing Catalanotto over four other candidates, including Cecala. Players and parents were also not given a firm explanation.
Cecala, who also coached the Molloy JV team to the Brooklyn/Queens crown, took over the team Jan. 17 when John McGlynn stepped down. At that time, for nearly two days, the Stanners players were not sure if their season would be canceled. Cecala stepped up and offered to continue doing both jobs the rest of the season. He resigned from the JV team May 6, the day he found out he wouldn't be getting the varsity job.
“I can't say I wasn't upset, because I really was,” said sophomore Kyra Aloizos, who also plays for the Xplosion. “[Cecala] did a lot for us.”
The girls felt better last Thursday when McCleary introduced Catalanotto and former Molloy standout John Sikiric, who will be working with the program, and there was an informal team meeting. Catalanotto is a Molloy grad and former assistant coach at the school under the program's first coach, Marty Towey.
“Mr. C came in and he introduced himself,” Guerriero said. “Toward the end of the meeting, there was a good vibe…We're excited to play for Mr. C. He's a really nice guy.”
Added Duryea: “He seemed like a very smart guy. He was very well-spoken.”
Reach Associate Sports Editor Marc Raimondi by e-mail at mraimondi@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
