Four months after guiding his squad to a near first-round upset over eventual Section I runner-up Scarsdale, Mamaroneck basketball coach Tyrone Carver has a new gig—at least for the summer.
On June 6, it was announced that Carver, who just finished his 12th year at the helm of the Tiger program, would be in charge of some of the area’s brightest stars, as he would take over head coaching duties of the Hudson Valley team in the upcoming Basketball Coaches Association of New York Summer Hoops Festival Tournament that will take place in August.
Former Croton-Harmon coach Bill Thom, who previously ran the Hudson Valley team, was ineligible to resume his duties this year due to his involvement as an assistant coach on the collegiate level at Birmingham-Southern, a Division III school in Alabama.
But Carver’s past participation in the tournament and his prominence on the local basketball scene made him a natural fit.
“They needed a replacement and I had previous experience of being on Coach Thom’s staff a couple of years ago,” Carver said. “It’s an honor for some of your colleagues to think that you can handle a position of this stature, and I want to thank [Lower Hudson Basketball Coaches Association] President Anthony Nicodemo for thinking that I was capable of this.”
With the Summer Hoops Festival set to kick off in Johnson City on Aug. 4, Carver won’t have much time to ease into the position. The first of four tryouts for the Hudson Valley team will commence on June 8, after press time, at Hendrick Hudson High School.
The team will eventually be made up of some of the top public and private school players from the immediate area. Carver said that he and his staff, which includes current Fox Lane head coach Mike Tomassi and Hen Hud JV coach Steve Purcigliotti, will be looking for those who possess the skills to match up with some of the state’s standout ballers but will also relish the opportunity of playing for the Hudson Valley.
“We are obviously looking for talented players,” Carver said. “But we’re also looking for guys who this is going to mean something to; guys who will take pride in this process and play together and go for a gold.”
The Hudson Valley’s last gold medal at the games came in 2014, but Carver maintains that, more often than not, the process can be just as fulfilling as the final result.
“I think it’s a fun experience for some of our players to play with their friends who they may compete against, but don’t get to play with,” he said. “To come together, to play for the Hudson Valley, I think it means something to be a part of that.”
