Aliquippa seeks applicants to replace boys basketball coach Dwight Hines

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, June 25, 2020 | 3:25 PM

The Aliquippa school board is accepting applications for a new boys basketball coach, a decision that stunned coach Dwight Hines, whose tenure appears to be over.

Hines said he can’t understand the move.

“That’s one thing you’ve got to ask the board members,” he said. “They didn’t call me in. They didn’t ask to talk.”

Hines went 63-39 in four seasons as head coach, and the team qualified for the WPIAL playoffs all four years. The Quips reached the WPIAL quarterfinals once and the semifinals three times, including last winter when the Quips went 17-10 overall, 8-4 in the section.

The school board voted last week to open the job to applicants.

“We’re losing a great coach and an even better person,” said Aliquippa athletic director Brandon LeDonne, who encouraged Hines to reapply. “He’s an Aliquippa guy and spent a lot of time there.”

The board is accepting applications until July 6.

Hines was a star basketball player for the Quips in the early 2000s. He graduated from Aliquippa in 2002 and played college basketball at Pitt Johnstown, but returned to the city and remained a resident.

Before becoming Aliquippa’s head coach in 2016, he spent six seasons as a Quips assistant at a time when Aliquippa won two WPIAL titles, a PIAA title and a PIAA runner-up trophy. The team went 30-0 in 2015-16 during coach Nick Lackovich’s final season.

When Lackovich had to resign, Hines took over. He received a three-year contract in 2016, but only a one-year extension before last season.

“As a person of the community, it’s tough to see that loyalty doesn’t come back the same way,” Hines said. “The numbers kind of speak for themselves. Seventeen-plus wins every year. Always took them deep into the playoffs. The numbers don’t lie, so I don’t think it was about coaching.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Aliquippa