Tim McConnell accepts Bishop Canevin job after resigning as Chartiers Valley coach

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, May 11, 2022 | 4:24 AM

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Tim McConnell had walked into Chartiers Valley’s gym countless times, but the longtime basketball coach felt somewhat sentimental when he entered Tuesday morning.

He knew it would be his last visit as Colts coach.

“When I went to meet with my team and I walked through the doors and I walked in the gym, it sort of hit me a little bit,” McConnell said, “like, wow, I’ve been doing this for 29 years and I’m not going to do this in this gym anymore. It was breathtaking. I got a little emotional to be honest with you.”

McConnell, 57, resigned Tuesday as Chartiers Valley’s girls basketball coach, a job he held for four seasons after 25 years as the school’s boys coach. But his resignation wasn’t a retirement. Instead, he’ll become boys coach at Bishop Canevin, a job that came open late last month.

McConnell said he accepted the job Wednesday.

“I’m excited to get started with a new chapter in my life,” said McConnell, who planned to meet his new team Friday.

McConnell won nine WPIAL titles and more than 600 games at Chartiers Valley, where he coached sons T.J. and Matty and daughter Megan. He went 552-146 as the boys coach with six WPIAL title and then switched over to coach the girls.

Chartiers Valley posted a tribute to McConnell online.

His CV girls teams went 110-7 over the past four seasons with three WPIAL titles, a state championship and two state runner-up finishes. They also finished second in the WPIAL once.

“I loved my time at Char Valley,” McConnell said. “I loved the people at Char Valley. They’ve been so good to me. I’m indebted to Char Valley, but with the Canevin job opening, I thought it was a good opportunity for me to get back on the boys side.”

He’ll keep his job as director of transportation at Chartiers Valley.

At Canevin, he’ll take over a basketball program that went 25-4 this winter and won WPIAL and PIAA Class A titles. The WPIAL title was the team’s second in a row, but Crusaders coach Gino Palmosina resigned in late April to become boys coach at Moon.

“I thought Gino did a good job,” McConnell said. “I want to keep moving the program in the same direction and try to have an impact on the lives of the kids I’m going to coach.

“I was getting numerous text and calls from former players,” he added. “It just made me realize how much of an impact you can have on someone’s life, and I want to continue to do the same.”

McConnell said Bishop Canevin’s location in Carnegie and the Catholic school experience were factors that drew him to the job.

“I went to a Catholic grade school and I went to Seton LaSalle High School,” he said. “It intrigues me. It’s somewhere I’ll really be able to fit in and understand what these kids are dealing with and what they’re doing.”

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: Chartiers Valley