Mount Vernon beat Scarsdale 75-50 this afternoon to improve to 13-1. It was the 400th victory of Bob Cimmino’s storied career and occurred in record time. Among the nine coaches in the 400 club, Cimmino had the fastest ascent; his career record is now 400-72.
The Knights were in control throughout, leading Scarsdale by double digits for most of the game despite playing without starters Jamal Lewis and Jalen David. Josh Doughty and Brandon Martin were fantastic and Devonte Banner continued to solidify his spot in the starting lineup with a strong all-around effort.
Below is my story about Cimmino’s achievement, followed by a year-by-year look at his history:
SCARSDALE The wins Bob Cimmino cares about most are the championships. Of those, there are many: 13 in Section 1; 10 regionals; a record six at states; and four at the Federation. By contrast to those triumphs in gyms like the County Center and Glens Falls, the Mount Vernon basketball coach seemed subdued Thursday among a sea of well-wishers after the Knights’ 75-50 victory at Scarsdale High School.
The game marked Cimmino’s 400th victory in just 19 seasons, vaulting him into a group of eight local boys coaches in the 400 club. Although the milestone paled in comparison to those championships, he conceded what this meant to a community that has meant so much to him.
“It was nice to play really well today,” said Cimmino, now 400-72. “It was a nice little present. I honestly don’t care about the 400 at all, but everybody’s happy so I’m happy, too.”
That has been a common emotion during Cimmino’s era, the most successful in Section 1 basketball history by any measure. His teams’ records include both team, individual and personal glory, like seven straight sectional champions; seven straight Section 1 “Mr. Basketball” winners; and his assignments coaching national all-star games, including the 2011 McDonald’s All-American Game.
Among Cimmino’s proudest achievements is an extensive coaching staff that includes former players and men who coached alongside him at St. Ursula’s Parish.
“One quality that I have is that I’m able to keep good people around and we have a ton of good people around who do great things for our players,” Cimmino said. “I think our players appreciate that. It just really rises above being a team into a family.”
Mount Vernon’s players showed their appreciation again Thursday. Senior Josh Doughty (pictured above) had 17 points and nine assists and junior Brandon Martin had team-highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Devonte Banner (pictured right) added 16 points and six rebounds, rising to fill the void without starters Jamal Lewis (thigh bruise) and Jalen David (coach’s decision).
Despite hitting five 3-pointers, Doughty’s willingness to share the ball helped the Knights (13-1) pad a 15-point halftime lead during a strong third quarter.
“He’s a great coach. He’s been doing it for a long time,” said Doughty, a captain who was a reserve on the last two state championship teams. “He’s had good players every year, but he’s always pushed the team. It’s never about one person. He puts that in our minds. That why he’s won so much.”
No one needs to remind Scarsdale of that. The Raiders (12-4) received a strong effort from big man Jack Hewitt (23 points) and Tyler Nathan and Jon Cohen combined to hit seven 3’s yet they still suffered a second straight lopsided loss to Mount Vernon.
Shortly after the buzzer, coach Jon Feld summed up the Cimmino era without pause.
“Unwinnable,” Feld said. “I think we’re now 0-20 against them in the nine years I’ve coached. He’s got great talent, but coaching talent is not easy. You have a lot more pressure on you and the expectations are always high. And he delivers every year.”
• • •
According to state records, Cimmino became the eighth local boys basketball coach to win 400 games. Peekskill’s Lou Panzanaro, the area’s winningest coach, is the only active coach other than Cimmino.
Lou Panzanaro, Peekskill – 564*
John Volpe, Gorton/Sacred Heart – 528
Mike DelVal, Woodlands/Hamilton/Rye – 514
John Costello, Dobbs Ferry/Hastings – 456
Lou Kliewe, Spring Valley/Albertus Magnus – 447**
Gary Gray, Nyack – 432
Cliff Clinton, Rye – 400
Tom Collins, Albertus Magnus – 400
Bob Cimmino, Mount Vernon – 400*
*active
**coached in Section 9
• • •
Here’s a look at Cimmino’s season-by-season records and championships:
1994-95: 17-5 (Section 1)
1995-96: 17-1
1996-97: 18-5
1997-98: 16-7
1998-99: 20-4
1999-2000: 28-0 (Section 1, regional, state, Federation)
2000-01: 20-7 (Section 1, regional)
2001-02: 25-2 (Section 1, regional)
2002-03: 26-1 (Section 1, regional)
2003-04: 27-3 (Section 1, regional, state, Federation)
2004-05: 20-4
2005-06: 23-5 (Section 1, regional, state, Federation)
2006-07: 24-5 (Section 1, regional, state)
2007-08: 23-4 (Section 1, regional)
2008-09: 20-4 (Section 1)
2009-10: 17-6 (Section 1)
2010-11: 23-5 (Section 1, regional, state, federation)
2011-12: 23-3 (Section 1, regional, state)
2012-13: 13-1
TOTALS: 400-72; Championships – 13 Section 1, 10 regional, 6 state, 4 Federation
42 Comments
THE RESUME SPEAKS FOE ITSELF,”THE GODFATHER”CONGRATS
Coach Delval won a big chunk of his games as the head coach at Woodlands from the mid 1960’s thru the early 1980’s
Congrats!!.. Coach Bob you have set the bar for westchester coaches in every sport!!..
Coach Cimmino….
You are the mortar that binds the bricks of this talent-rich community, year after year after year. And the edifice that stands tall and proud this day is a both a monument and testament to the boundless passions of a great man and the great city of Mount Vernon.
Congratulations,
MVHS Class of ‘65
MVHS65,
I WAS JUST GETTING READY TO SAY THAT,LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLL
‘WOOD…
No doubt you were…LOL!
Seriously, keep up with your savvy predictions and we will start calling you the Oracle of California Road!
Congrats to Cimmino and the MT Vernon program.
Also do not forget the #1 and still active coach Lou Panzanaro with 600 within reach.
Tom Collins had 400 at Albertus, didn’t Rob Roy have 406 with North Rockland?
Bill Thom is North of 300 and still active.
Im a huge MV fan, but I have a question playing a little devils advocate. How much of MV success is due to cimmino? He always has such talented kids, it’s easy to coach when you can just roll the ball out on the floor and beat almost everyone in this county on talent alone. Again I’m not taking anything away from any of coach c and his accomplishments just asking a valid question. I don’t know the man.
BBALL junkie
since you asked nicely & admitted to playing devils advocate, I’ll enlighten. When Coach Cimmino stepped up to Varsity Fr being the JV coach he knew he had a HUGE Responsibility to continue to carry on MV’s GREAT Tradition in BBALL. He assembled a terrific staff & continued building the MV hoop program. The true testament is the loyalty MV’s kids have to THE PROGRAM. He doesn’t lose kids to Catholics & Preps. Since you’re so caught up w/ talent. Let’s address it. If you’re the most talented player at MV & you’re not willing to abide by team rules, You Don’t Play. I’ve watched Stars never take their warm-ups off because of a slight infraction. It doesn’t matter how good you are as a player, you have to BE A GOOD TEAMMATE. Bob teaches Life Lessons to these kids & being in his program changed lives. So you’re mistaken thinking anyone could do what he does. He’s special because he does it the Right Way. The talent you see on the court at MV is because of his Program & the great coaches he’s assembled. Don’t Think anyone could do it, Because Many would settle for success w/o teaching the Lessons Coach Cimmino Teaches.
Reality check,
Thats a great answer to my question. I have even more respect for that program after reading what you wrote. I am an outsider just watching the games and reading about them in the papers. I didn’t realize he was that strict with his guys. Thanks for the enlightenment
BBALL Junkie
No Problem. Another fantastic Coach who puts up w/ No BS is Bob Hurley. I think of Coach Cimmino in the same vein as Coach Hurley.
What’s remarkable about Coach Cimmino is he’s doing it at a Public School. Coach Hurley & some other remarkable people keep St Anthony’s afloat yr after yr. I think he gets $9000 to coach St A’s. The man does it for Love. I have great respect for them both & consider them to be the Best Coaches around. They’re doing it for all the right reasons. Their resume’s are impeccable.
TO PUT IT SIMPLE;
THE MOUNT VERNON BASKETBALL PROGRAM AND BOB CIMMINO ARE FAMILY,AND THE COMMUNITY EMBRACES THAT,WHICH EQUALS,SUCCESS FOR A LONG TIME
mount vernon is pretty terrible this year, beating scarsdale by 5? scarsdale?
There is a very good book out there called “The Miracle of St. Anthonys” It’s great stuff about Hurley and if your a big fan of high school basketball I strongly suggest you read it. It will give some of you a taste of what it’s like when a man like Hurley and Cimmino put their heart and soul into a basketball program.
Reality…... great post
65….... I had written the same exact thing you said and what Haywood was thinking, but my computer crashed from all the love.
Amazing accomplishment for a great coach and a first class program!
Top dog,
No need for nonsense.
Reality Check,
That was a good answer about Coach Cimmino. I’d add a little bit to it. MV has always had a lot of talent and they’ve always had good teams. Vin Olsen may have had even more talent! I agree the what separates him as a coach is the importance he places on teaching his kids life lessons. What I’d add is Coach Cimmino and his staff do a very, very good job of keeping his kids grades in order and getting them eligible – which has a lot to do with how the coaches make the kids understand the importance of it. A huge % of MV kids are eligible as freshmen in college. If you compare his track record with those of his rivals at New Ro or WP – MV seems to do a great job. If you compare MV’s track record of getting kids eligible for college with the top PSAL programs like Lincoln and Boys it is not even close.
Coach Cimmino also did a very classy thing giving a lot of credit to his many assistants and those that help with the Junior Knights.
spacecadet
Thanks for the tip about that book on the St. Anthony’s program. I’ll have to get a copy for my son in law who’s from NJ and is always busting on me with how great St. Anthony’s program is [when compared to Mt. Vernon]. I tell him it’s like comparing apples and pomegranates…4 square miles vs. tri-state/metropolitan catchment area.
From my keyboard to yours and ‘Wood’s mind…great minds do indeed think alike.
And in so far as your computer crashing from all the love for “coach”, I would recommend you expand your hard drive’s Giga-byte capacity for LUVE. That should solve the problem.
Looking forward to the “annual reunion” again this year up/down at the C.C….barring any catastrophic outcomes along the way.
Stay thirsty my friend!
LOL…
Kool Aid is on me,
Hoops fan…
Excellent observation on Cimmino [and his staff ]dealing from a place of integrity and being TOTALLY committed to the kids and their responsibilities as student-athletes [not athlete-student]. The pressure to achieve excellence on the hardwood floors can easily obscure and super-cede the hard work that must be done in the classroom. And to his credit Cimmino has never, ever lost sight of that.
Look no further than the tragically sad story of the Newburgh Free Academy program which around the same time that it was capturing a NYSPHSAA state championship could only get ONE [Will ‘miracle shot’ Bouton] of its’ starting FIVE to graduate high school on time. That coupled with the school administration’s complicity in allowing some of the star players to miss up to a third of their classes through the school year. That coach was clearly clueless and asleep at the wheel for that one. Truly a travesty!!
Congrats to cimmino and staff. They run a great program from top to bottom.
Reality check, hurley is in a category all by himself as he is one of the best coaches in america on the high school and college level. People view hurley like they view coach k and coach pitino.
Reality Check,
I didn’t see your response to the hoop junkie’s, “devil’s advocate” question until now.
Thank you for that very illuminating and well-defined explanation. I envy your up close perspective on the program, it makes me wish that I could get down to the ‘Vern more often [living 90 miles north].
Many on this blog know my father was the coach at Gompers in the south bronx. I saw first hand what it takes to be respected and to put the kids you coach ahead of you. From benching top kids, to meeting with the guardians it was a job that clearly wasn’t glory filled or worth the pay.
At times, my bro, sis and couldn’t really understand why he spent so much time there. It also impacted “our time”. But as we grew older we loved him for it. We also realized we were in good hands and that these kids need their coach to teach them not only about hoops, but life. Some made it some didn’t. But the ones who did, still reach out to my father. And he had them 30 years ago!
I am not going to compare Coach C to my father, but he sure does remind me of him in a lot of ways. The respect and admiration I have for Coach C is beyond words.
Also people like MVHS65, Space, Wood, etc prove how a school, community and coach can impact you forever. Great job MV!
HRs
great tribute to your dad. I can relate to his position very well having coached between the foul lines for over 15 years. It’s a great feeling.
states where did you coach? Having both parents teach in the south bronx and my father coach there sure helped my siblings and I learn about life and whats around you. Makes you a better person and realize that there are people out there who need a lot more guidance than you! Being selfish isn’t something I was taught.
Coaches with Coach C’s mentality and values are a very rare breed. Nowadays its about records and sponsorships. Not about education, life and love for the game.
If you think about it, MV’s kids graduate, go to college and become fine young men there after. You all know better than me but has there even been a kid in say the past 10 years who didn’t go this route? It truly is amazing what he has done and continues to do.
HRs,
All good. I did impress the men’s coach at SUNY NP one summer doing a camp for him. Surprised I had a lot of fun drills for the kids to help them being mostly a football and baseball guy.
In other news. Coach C’s 1999-2000 year will always stand out. 23-0 MV/PK in a very nice chip game.
FYI
For Your Info, Coach Hurley brought his kids to MV last yr to scrimmage. I sat behind his bench. During the scrimmage he turned to one of his kids & asked “Do You know where You are? You’re at Mt Vernon. When you get home google it. They have like 9-10 guys in the NBA. WAKE UP”
After the scrimmage, I walked up to Bob & introduced myself. I told him Thanks for the glowing review of MV’s Program. He answered, “these kids are like shut ins. They go from the house to school & back. They don’t get out much. So when I bring them to Mt Vernon & they’re just sitting there like it’s any other gym, I want them to Know Where they are”
I respect Coach Hurley Greatly & So does Coach Cimmino. Bob Hurley respects Mt Vernon basketball & all it represents. You can rank coaches. I’ll go by what coach Hurley says. I agree he’s the Best & the next in line in HS hoops for me is BC. He’s got the same qualities. With Dedication, work ethic, & loyalty Coach Hurley & Coach Cimmino Set the Bar for HS hoop coaches.
SpaceCadet
“The Street Stops Here” is a great documentary on St A’s & Coach Hurley. It centers around Mike Rosario’s Sr season. Coach Hurley teaches Rosario that it’s All About The Team. Especially, after he gets selected to the McDonalds Allstar Game. Great Movie. About a Great Man & Program.
JUST FOR FUN;
WHEN LEAVING A COMMENT COULD YOU PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKE. BALTIMORE OR SAN FRAN
THANK YOU,
States..LOL! Glad your turning heads already. Coach States has a nice ring to it.
Wood…you know who I like!
Reality, great info. I saw the documentary and I read the book. A great man…end of story.
HRs,
I know your kids are as proud of you,as you are of your father.l have never met you but you sound like a true son,and dad
Wood,
Little did you know, HRs was in ear shot to hear me and the Peeky fan go at it at the CC last year. Good times, lol. Need to have it happen again.
STATES,
MIND YOUR BIZ,I’M WORKIN ON A MEAL,LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLL
LOLOLOL. In about a month or so well be chillin at the CC. Wood thanks for those amazing words. Your stock just went up!
HRs / statesman,
I love you guys,LLLLLLOOOOOLLLLL,
Wood,
You’re getting that meal through me, lol! Def make the day go by smoother!
HRs,
Looking forward to it. Hopefully we hit those FT’s and make it to the promised land!
Both teams will be there! And yes States earned a meal on a wager last year. So with interest, I owe him two and Wood one..LOL!
Josh:
Cliff Clinton Rye Garnet Head Basketball Coach from 1946 to 1978 was the dominant coach of that era amassing more than 400 wins as well as many Section One titles. Back in the 50s/60s small schools like Rye could elect to jump to the “Open” Championship and play the larger schools (WP, New Ro, etc.) and Rye jumped a few times and won at least one, if not two, Open Championships under Coach Clinton.
Cliff Clinton should be included on your list of Wstchster/Section One Banketball Coaches amassing more than 400 carrer wins. All of Clinton’s victories were at Rye High School, no where else.
garnet10580… I will look in our archives. In the meantime, see if you can find the exact win total. That information should be passed along and included in the state records.
Nyack Misses Gary Grey
I already found it. It’s 420. I will pass along the info.
10580, thanks for the heads up.
I’m not going to say congrats on 400 wins because I always thought you should get to that number if you coached the talent rich mt Vernon basketball program for that long. However I will say congrats for running a great program and involving the whole community. You were the right man for the job 20 years ago and you still are the right man to run this program. Congrats on that
[...] • • • Also, Nyack will honor former coach Gary Gray during today’s game against Pearl River. Gray won 432 games with the Indians, which ranks second in Rockland County history. He is one of only nine local boys basketball coaches in the 400 club. [...]