Athletic director Andre Carter eager to take on expanded role at Riverview

By: Michael Love
Thursday, July 10, 2025 | 1:30 PM

This summer has been one of transition for Riverview’s Andre Carter.

The school district’s athletic director, who also served as a volunteer coach for the Raiders girls basketball team this past season, was hired as the program’s new head coach last month.

Then, at the start of this month, Carter saw his AD position bumped up from part time to full time.

Immersed as he is in Riverview athletics, Carter said he is excited to embrace the changes and continue to work for the betterment of Raiders athletes.

“It’s been busy, but I was ready for what was ahead of me,” Carter said. “I am really excited.”

Carter’s approval as Riverview’s girls basketball coach was a celebration of sorts as it came on June 16, his birthday.

The opportunity presented itself when Jill Catanzaro stepped down in April after four seasons at the helm, citing her desire to spend more time with family as the main reason for the decision.

Carter, when hired as Riverview AD at this time last summer, also retained his love of coaching with time spent mentoring in the Raiders girls basketball program.

As athletic director and also a candidate for the girls head coaching job, Carter had to remove himself from the hiring process.

“The district, they did everything they needed to do. I didn’t know of any of the other candidates during the process,” he said. “Now that I am the coach, I do know because I am trying to recruit them to help me out as assistant coaches.”

Carter said knowing the returning players and which players are coming up to the varsity program has helped him get up to speed.

The Raiders said goodbye to graduates Kat Tsambis, the Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year, and multi-year starter Lily Bauer from a team that finished runner-up to Winchester Thurston in Section 4-2A and earned a home game for the WPIAL playoffs.

Their “home game” was moved, however, to Kiski Area because of gym seating limitations. The Raiders saw Rochester rally in the second half for a first-round victory. Riverview concluded its season at 14-5.

Rising senior guard Isabel Chaparro returns to lead the team along with the likes of rising junior guard/forwards Blake Huffman and Juliette Brun.

Carter has gathered team members for open gyms Mondays and Wednesdays.

The roster, he said, was at nine at the end in February with seven healthy for most of the season.

Carter said the current numbers are roughly 13-14 with a couple of players returning to the program after playing previously and also several freshmen coming up.

“Shortly after I was officially announced, we had a parent/team meeting, and we talked a lot about what we get out of it will come from what we put into it,” he said. “We’re doing well with the open gyms in terms of the numbers and the work we’re doing. The talent is there. We lost a couple great players, but we still have a good core.”

Carter jumped into the AD job quickly last summer with two months of preparation left before the start of the 2024-25 fall season. While the job was part time, he said the schedule was pretty full with all the responsibilities.

“There’s no such thing as a part-time AD other than in name,” Carter said. “In order for you to get everything done that you need to and to make the program run efficiently, you’re putting in a lot of hours. With just being at the school for games throughout a single week, that is a lot of hours. Then you have the day-to-day responsibilities.”

Carter said he heard positive feedback from the community as to how he was doing his job, and it was a good feeling.

“I think they might have been the spark for the administration or the school board to consider moving the AD job to full time,” Carter said. “But I did start talking to them more. The superintendent (Neil English) asked me what my ideal position would look like. We did start having in-depth talks.”

Carter’s athletic director position at Leechburg was considered supplemental similar to a coaching position. It was geared, he said, for teachers to supplement their income.

Carter served as the AD at Leechburg for three years, through the end of the 2023 school year, in addition to coaching the girls basketball team.

He continued to coach the Blue Devils for the 2023-24 season before arriving at Riverview a couple of months later to take over as AD.

“Leechburg really gave me the opportunity to be in the trenches and learn,” Carter said. “I had three years in there, so I already had systems in place. When I came here, it made the transition a lot smoother than it might have been otherwise.”

With Leechburg and Riverview being fierce rivals in many sports, Carter said he got to know the type of athlete Riverview produces and the type of coaches who helped set the athletes on a course for success.

That knowledge, he said, has strengthened in the year since he has been with Riverview athletics.

“Right now, in the summer, I make my own schedule, and I am here every day,” said Carter, who recently shared in the joy of a spring season that saw the baseball team placed third in the WPIAL and advance to states and members of the track and field team excel at WPIALs and the PIAA meet.

“I am given the opportunity to run the department, and it is a matter of making sure everyone has what they need, and we’re in the best position when our teams and athletes are ready to compete. The kids at Leechburg were phenomenal, and that is definitely the same here at Riverview. They were raised well with all the characteristics and qualities that go into forming solid athletes and good people.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Riverview