As I reported Monday night on Twitter, Al Morales was named the new boys basketball coach at Kennedy Catholic.
“It was a dream job for me,” said Morales, who is also the athletic director at the Brewster Sports Center. “I’m a Catholic school graduate. Coming in under Tom Nelligan, I learned the ins and outs through him, and I knew it was a special place. I knew one day I wanted to coach the boys varsity at Kennedy. It was a dream of mine.”
Morales had coached the Kennedy girls the last four seasons. His teams twice made the County Center, losing both times in the semifinals to eventual state champion Irvington. Prior to Kennedy, Morales coached the boys varsity at Somers for three seasons. He had originally served as the JV coach and a varsity assistant at Kennedy under Nelligan when the Gaels won the Class B state and Federation championships.
“Coaching girls has made me a better coach,” Morales said. “That time definitely increased my knowledge of basketball.”
Morales, who is also the athletic director at the Brewster Sports Center, was originally rumored to have been the choice after Kennedy abruptly fired Frank Kelly this summer. The move led parents to petition the school for more information about the decision and for a thorough interview process to pick Kelly’s successor. Morales was among the coaches to interview for the position and he was hired Monday afternoon.
“That pretty much comes with the program,” Morales said about the protests. “Any situation you fall into, you’re going to have some negatives and some positives. The coach that was there was a great guy, so I think it’s going to cause some adversity.”
Morales confirmed that Kennedy has already lost two players from last year’s varsity roster to transfer: junior Mike DeMello (White Plains) and sophomore Mike Del Guidice (Brewster). DeMello was the team’s starter point guard as a sophomore and Del Guidice made the varsity as a freshman. He also said it was possible players at lower levels of the program would transfer as well.
“That comes with the territory, I think,” he said. “You move forward with whoever is there. It’s going to take time to build a program.”
28 Comments
I wonder how much $$$ was donated (bribe) to Kennedy Catholic this time Morales was named as head coach??? Such a ripoff. Deplorable.
Justin Time,
That is not the point. He is a terrible coach. His record is 57
84 all time. 8 years, 4 boys / 4 girls. His last year, Chuck Mancuso had to coach the Boys Somers team the last 4 games of the year because Morales quit on the team. 119 record the last year. They replaced a man with a record of 45 -15 with this guy. Who makes these decisions? There was no better rivalry in the last 3 years than Byram Hills / Kennedy.Justin Time -very well said! KC should be ashamed….This is twice now that these “donations” take reign. It’s about time people took a stand.
Who Cares?,
I care. Because the interview process was complete bologna. There were more qualified coaches to choose. The Kennedy powers just bought some time and let time pass until the chaos died down. Frank Kelly could out coach Morales with his eyes closed and his hands tied behind Marshall Reiff’s back.
1 – 19 !! and QUIT ON HIS TEAM. It would almost be better to bribe KC if they were actually putting in someone like Nelligan or Nicodemo, but this is embarrassing.
The most political garbage ever in section 1. Kennedy fires Kelly, that starts a firestorm in the JFK community, Demello declares publicly that his kid is going to White Plains even though they live in Lakeland/Panas area, leasing an apartment to attend a school they want, Morales hired as new coach. The only thing missing is that Demello used to be a bigwig in the Brewster Sports Complex. Let go or leaves. He opens a new place in New Ro. Oops also missing is that they dominated the pages last year with a 6’6 Brazilian (relative) who somehow shows up from his country to live in Demello’s house and attend JFK. Making them a very good team. WOW! When will we hear about the Section 1 ruling on the transfer? This is better then daytime tv.
I wonder if all those people who were accusing Frank Kelly of recruiting will question the fact that the Athletic Director of the Brewster Sports Center has free reign over every athlete that walks into that complex..
I say we settle in on the court…
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“It’s going to take time to build a program.”
Are you serious? A program was already built at Kennedy. They were considered a candidate for the championship every year under Kelly. Morales has destroyed the program that was built. Why would you want to go from a promising team with a lot of young talent, to a team with everyone transfering out because no one wants to play for this guy? Must have been a lot of $ donated by BSC to get Morales that job.
Kelly had a great record against B level teams. With the talent he had his first two years he should have made it at least to the state semi-finals. His teams underachieved because he was clueless and unqualified to coach. The kids that are leaving are making huge mistakes. Al Morales is a great coach who will bring new life to the Kennedy program.
Everyone seems to be complaining saying Kelly had a great record, but most of the wins were against weak teams in league play. When the real games took place like at the county center his teams were often outplayed and outcoached. People can debate this but the results don’t lie. Morales can do a good job at Kennedy , he has plenty of resources and basketball backround.
They take care of their own, at any cost for any reason. Frank Kelly is a class act. This cancer of a crowd needs to go away. The cancer that is this crowd found its way into Harrison as well.
And to think of all the basketball Frank Kelly played with and around The Brewster Sports Center…all the time with a bulls eye on his back…a cancer of a crowd.
2 cents what in gods name are you saying
The kid that went back to Brewster had EVERYTHING to do with Kelly leaving. Both he and his older brother were in the meeting PROTESTING the meeting against Morales. The older brother ran the AAU program as head coach. The Valhalla kid was a 6’4 varsity kid as a freshman at the end of last year. You don’t think he would be a great returning starter this year. As well an incoming 6’10” freshman from Nigeria who will be staying with his host family in Valhalla. That kid was registered at KC but has recently withdrawn from KC DIRECTLY because of the MORALES. Obviously DeMello is going to WP and he was instrumental in winning the Gold Medal this year.
Al morales’ motto—- “Snake it till ya make it!”
I think all of those coaches in Putnam and northern Westchester Counties who were complaining that Frank Kelly was not honorable and recruiting players, they better watch their players like NEVER before. Everytime, those coaches bring a team into the Brewster Sports Complex, ALL of their players are fair game. Be Forewarned!! Coach Morales at Kennedy is the Trojan Horse of Section 1 Basketball. So, J. Martino, H. Sassone, C. DiCentio, T. Nelligan, G. Coates, C. Caputi, and K. Downes, and any other local team around the cliche is alive and well. You should be careful what you ask for! Because NOW you have got it! If those coaches are smart and they would all tell you if you asked them, they should never enter the sports complex in Brewster.
Albie M.
Exactly! This group is a cancer. Beware of other facilities with connections to this cancerous bunch.
Be careful of what? You people make it like Kennedy catholic is the mount Vernon of upper westchester. It is section 1 a westchester county basketball. Very weak competition, people need to relax.
lets be real. The only one doing the coaching at kennedy was lou demello. Kelly was merely the figurehead who sat on the bench. Everyone here is claiming that the kelly dismissal was uncalled for because of his revitalization of the program, but in fact it was demello who did a great deal of the coaching. Demello didnt enroll in white plains because kelly got fired, its because he has a bad relationship with coach morales and doesnt trust him to give his son the opportunity he deserves. I dont disagree with his decision, but some people posting here are just misinformed. If anyone else got the job at kennedy demello would have stayed because he has input with anyone but morales due to personal reasons. Also the remaining kids who left were not for basketball purposes, only the kid from brewster left due to the kelly dismissal, the rest were for school related issues. As for the big kid from africa he was never enrolled at kennedy, he was at stepinac last year so thats just a plain lie. Kelly was fired for character issues, anyone close to the kc bball community knows this and cant argue it.
Question- you aren’t making any sense at all. The facts are that Demello is one of the areas top returning guards. Everyone knows this after his performance as a sophomore and his play this summer on the bcany team. Not to mention 3 out of 5 starters graduated last year from Kennedy. There was no way Mr Demello left bc he thought Morales was not going to play his son. It is safe to say younger Demellos position and playing time was very secure there. Come on now! There are other factors at play here. It is also not a coincidence that there were 300 signatures in two days regarding the abrupt dismissal of Kelly and then 5 players say they are leaving once Morales is announced coach. Everyone knew the administration had Morales chosen as the next coach before they even fired Kelly.
Question,
“Kelly was fired for character issues. Anyone in the KC community knows that.”....what are you talking about???! In actuality it was made very clear by the petition mentioned by LetsBReal and the huge uprising in the community against KCs administration after Kelly was let go -that in fact everyone was in shock and in disbelief by the KC’s actions. You have to be kidding me with that statement. Kelly literally had hundreds of people backing him after what happened. Kelly was a class act and a great coach. No one can take that away from him.
Letsbreal, do you realize demello was fired from the bsc? Him and morales have some serious issues which is the main reason why he left. With morales nothing was secure with demello and Lou knew he couldn’t pull morales strings like he did Kelly.
what“Kelly was a great coach” , no Lou was a great coach for Kennedy , and Kelly had problems with administration there right from the getgo , as I said before Kelly was the figurehead on the bench. This is true whether you believe it or not. Also show me who signed the petition, if Kelly was as loved as you say he was there would have been way more then a mere 300 signatures come on now lolwho would win one on one, al morales or lou demello?
Question,
Why do you not capitalize proper nouns? First of all, DeMello must be a magician coach when he video taped all of the games from the other side of the gym. He must be a mad scientist when he didn’t even attend the Peekskill game where the starting 5 players blew out Peekskill by 30 points and then the “back up players” like you were talking about in an earlier post, lost that lead in a quarter and the starters had to come back in to re-win the game by 20 points. Morales should beg the Demellos to keep Mike enrolled at KC.
“As for the big kid from africa he was never enrolled at kennedy, he was at stepinac last year so thats just a plain lie.”
Let me prove this true. The kid you talk about is a 6ft 10inch that just transferred to Darien from Stepinac. The 6ft 9 kid that registered at Kennedy on August 3rd, is from Nigeria and has never been to the US. He will be a freshman and thanks to the firing of Kelly and the hiring, denying, and then rehiring of Morales, this player is going back to Valhalla to live with his host family ( the sophomore 6’3 kid from Valhalla).
The truth hurts… Valhalla will win the section for the next few years and they can thank KC, K.C. A.D. and Morales for it. Ask Coach DelGuidice, he will tell you he pulled the brother because of the shenanigans. These players loved Frank Kelly and no matter what you write on this blog, you cannot change it. You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts. Morales can’t coach. It is as simple as that. 1 – 19, Quitting on his own team. Who would want to subject their kids to that?
Albie m my mistake with the mixing of the two international kids. However the kid from valhalla left because of an entirely different matter disregarding basketball, and that is likely the reason the 6’9 kid went with him and didn’t enroll. And in terms of you saying demello didn’t coach during in games, good job Sherlock Holmes. Where do you think the schemes, plays, and defensive strategy came from that Kennedy used? Practice, who always helped out / ran practice? Lou demello. Lol you obviously misinterpreted my meaning of figurehead in my last post.
Question,
The Valhalla kid’s mother was in the meeting protesting Morales’ hire along with 4 or 5 other parents. Lou DeMello has run so many practices for so many coaches (for free). Why do you think that is? He does that because coaches ask him to. Why do they ask him to? They ask because his schemes, plays, intensity are successful. No other reason. Being fired in January but miraculously landed on his feet in January with a top flight organization run by professionals. Souunds like he was fired only after he quit! Jealous of Morales? lololololololololol why would he be jealous of a man who cheats in his own over 40 basketball league.. I know, I have played against him for many years.
Hmmm I wonder who Question is?? Hahaha because it’s not obvious or anything. You really should stop. At this point your agenda is clear and you are just embarrassing yourself. Jealous is right. You can keep posting under different names and agreeing with yourself if that makes you feel better but you still won’t have any credibility. That is very clear.
Lol@hmmm and albie m it’s not like Lou had a son at Kennedy who he thought would gain favor with Kelly if he stepped in and helped out or anything….. Lou didn’t do it because he was asked, he did it to ensure a place for his son as a vital part of the Kennedy team. I’m just saying stuff that’s true albie and I’m pretty sure I never said anything about being jealous. If his son wasn’t at Kennedy Lou would have never helped Kelly. You have to admit that…