Hopewell hires 2009 alum Falletta as basketball coach

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, July 18, 2018 | 10:03 PM

A decade has passed since Drew Falletta wore a Hopewell uniform, but watching his old basketball team lose night after night caused him pain.

“I’ve been in this community for 20 years,” Falletta said. “My father coached here. I played here. I think his team and my team were the only two teams to play for WPIAL championships in the history of Hopewell boys basketball. So there’s an extra sense of pride for me and for him. It really hurt, and that’s one reason why I went after this job. I want to bring this program back.”

Falletta, who played for the Vikings from 2006-09, was announced Wednesday as the school’s new boys basketball coach. At 27, he takes over a program that his father, Joe, coached successfully from 1995-2003.

The Fallettas helped Hopewell reached the WPIAL finals in 2003 and 2008, but those bright days seem distant now.

The Vikings went 26-122 in the past eight seasons under three different coaches, and they haven’t won a section game since 2015 – a streak of 48 consecutive losses. They finished 4-17 overall last season, 3-18 in 2017 and 1-21 in 2016 under coach Tim Gaertner.

Falletta is eager to remind Hopewell about its winning past.

“I’ve kept tabs on Hopewell and I’ve seen what’s gone on,” said Falletta, who moved to Virginia and back with wife Lyndsay. “They’ve had a tough stretch here over the past six or seven years. I thought it was time for a change of culture. The fact that I played there and was pretty successful … with where the program was, I thought I was a great fit for it.

“I will bring basketball back to this community,” he added. “It will be a priority again. People will be excited about basketball. The gym will be open. Kids will be playing basketball all of the time.”

In his three seasons with the Vikings, Falletta and his teammates won 44 games and reached the WPIAL playoffs three times. The team went 22-7 and won the section title in 2007-08, before losing to rival Blackhawk in the WPIAL Class AAA final.

“I feel I can do some special things here, but it’s going to take a lot of work,” Falletta said. “It’s going to be a process, but I’m excited about it. This place means a lot of me. I love Hopewell. I love the community. I love the program. I wanted to take this challenge on.”

Falletta has coached at the AAU level and gained experience working with players through camps. This will be his first high school job, but his father was only 24 when Hopewell hired him.

His father won’t be one of his assistants, Falletta said, but he was pleased to see his son take over his old team.

“I think he was shocked more than anything,” Falletta said. “He’s a pretty reserved guy but he was very excited, I could tell in his voice whenever he called me. … He had a great run here, so I’ve got big shoes to fill.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.