After saying before the season that this would year be his last as head coach of the Niagara Falls Wolverines, Dan Bazzani is backing off those statements as his team prepares for a matchup with Fairport in the New York State Class AA Far West Regionals at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Buffalo State College Sports Arena.
“That’s not a focus right now. I’m not even thinking about it,” the coach said. “I really haven’t given it a lot of thought and I’d rather not think about it. I’ve been concentrating on the next task at hand.”
Most of Bazzani’s players have the same feelings. To a man, they haven’t really thought about it during their run to another Section VI championship.
“It never really crossed my mind,” senior Kendall Davis said.
Senior point guard Anthony Marshall added: “We’ve never really thought about it.”
Whether the reigning National High School Coach of the Year comes back for another season or rides off into the sunset, all of Bazzani’s players know what kind of impact he has had on them.
“He’s a leader to our team,” Davis said. “He helps us win games and I don’t know where we would be without him.”
Tyrell Lynch, the Wolverines 6-foot-8 senior big man, along with Marshall both say that Bazzani brings more than just basketball knowledge to the defending state and federation champs.
“Coach Bazzani means everything to this team,” Lynch said. “Every day he’s here at practice giving us everything he’s got and making us better people and better players.”
Marshall chimed in, “He’s a great coach and he let’s us have fun. He’s a nice, well-rounded individual.”
Despite Bazzani’s unwillingness to say whether he will return to the bench next season, a handful of players felt as though their coach should go out on top.
“It would be nice for him to go out with back-to-back championships,” Davis said.
Lynch agreed.
“We want to win it for coach Bazzani and send him off a winner,” he said.
Bazzani on the other hand continued to refuse to speculate, while saying that he was focused on getting back to Glens Falls.
“I haven’t really thought about it,” he said. “I’d rather think about containing Corey McAdam and beating Fairport.”
service greeter Service greeter wanted, part time temp assignment for 4-8 wks. Mon. Tues. Thurs. 5-9, Sat. 9-5. Apply with in David Ch...>MORE
Secretary Secretary- F/T, Exp. Clerical, Comp., Acct. Skills. Send resume to St. Peter R.C. School, 140 N. 6th St. Lewiston, NY ...>MORE
Application Developer APPLICATION DEVELOPER, Niagara Falls, NY. At Cardinal Health, we're developing the innovative products and services that...>MORE
Housekeeping Aide Housekeeping Aide. Day shift. Must be able to work a flexible schedule to include some week-ends and holidays. Dependabl...>MORE
Information Technology INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. Niagara County Community College is seeking a Coordinator of Multimedia and Web Services within ...>MORE
Truck Driver TRUCK DRIVER: Local /OTR 200 mile radius. Must have dump trailer experience. 867-4663...>MORE
Print this story
E-mail this story
