Trib HSSN Head of the Class: WPIAL 2025 boys basketball coaches of the year

By: Don Rebel
Monday, March 31, 2025 | 11:22 PM

Coaching high school sports nowadays is a year-round venture with offseason workouts, summer leagues and fall open gyms.

While we would like to now salute all 133 WPIAL boys basketball coaches from the 2024-2025 campaign, we have a special seat in the front of the classroom for those who were a cut above.

The following six coaches will fill those seats after being named the Trib HSSN Head of the Class for the 2025 season in each of the six district classifications.

Class 6A

Danny Holzer, Upper St. Clair

Like his team in Class 6A, this is a repeat award for the proud alum of Alliance College. Last year, the young Panthers scratched and clawed their way to a WPIAL championship before their season ended in the PIAA quarterfinals with a final record of 22-6. While that was impressive, this year’s squad was a well-oiled machine. USC had winning streaks of five and 13 games in the regular season and won Section 2-6A by two games. Upper St. Clair was dominant in the WPIAL playoffs, winning by 22, 20 and 22 points to become the first district team to repeat as boys hoops 6A champions. The Panthers reached the PIAA final four before bowing out in a loss to District 12 power Roman Catholic to finish 26-3.

Class 5A

Corey Dotchin, Chartiers Valley

What a debut season for the onetime Highlands coach. When he was hired in the offseason to take over the Colts, he became the third head coach in less than a year for a program that had the same coach (Tim McConnell) for over two decades prior to 2019. Dotchin brought a different style and seemed to be a calming influence on star senior Jayden Davis. With a nice mix of seniors and youngsters, Chartiers Valley won the WPIAL championship as the No. 4 seed by upsetting top seed Montour after losing to the Spartans twice in the regular season, then finishing the title run with a victory over Peters Township for the program’s seventh championship and first since 2015.

Class 4A

Joe Salvino, Belle Vernon

Kudos to Jm Rocco of North Catholic for taking the Trojans to the WPIAL finals and being the last team standing in the Class 4A state playoffs before falling to Berks Catholic in the semifinals; however, how could we not go with the sentimental story of the season? One of the winningest coaches in WPIAL history announced late in the season that this would be his last campaign before retiring. The Leopards rallied around their coach and defeated Elizabeth Forward, Avonworth and North Catholic to win the program’s second district boys basketball title and first since 1978. His final game was a PIAA second-round loss to Sharon, but the Hollywood script had already been turned in by then.

Class 3A

Tony DiCenzo, South Allegheny

The South Allegheny boys basketball program had been stuck in the valley before Tony DiCenzo took over 13 years ago. Now the Gladiators have a golden view from the top of the Class 3A district mountain. They finished 2-20 prior to DiCenzo being hired in 2013. Now they are first-time champions. The regular season included win streaks of 10 and six games that led to the Gladiators winning the Section 3-3A crown. Following three playoff wins, South Allegheny stunned two-time defending champion Aliquippa in the finals for the program’s first WPIAL title. To prove it was no fluke, the Gladiators edged the Quips again in the PIAA semifinals before falling to West Catholic in the state finals.

Class 2A

Adrian Batts, Jeannette

A shoutout to Mark Stanley for Union’s surprise run to the WPIAL finals in Class 2A, including the biggest upset of the postseason in a quarterfinal stunner of top seed Greensburg Central Catholic. That helped pave the way for No. 3 Jeannette to win its first boys basketball district title since the days of the great Terrelle Pryor in 2008. Batts led this group of young Jayhawks to winning streaks of 11 straight in the regular season and eight in a row in the postseason. Their four-game run in the WPIAL playoffs included a victory over PIAA runner-up Sewickley Academy by 20 points and a triumph over Union in the finals by 24 points. The Jayhawks were a perfect 25-0 against everybody not named GCC.

Class A

Jordan Marks, The Neighborhood Academy

In only its fifth season as a member of the WPIAL, The Neighborhood Academy came as close as you can to a perfect season. The Bulldogs won their first 10 games, lost by one point to Class 4A power Beaver, then finished the year by winning their last 19 games to end up 29-1. They won district and state gold in dominating fashion. TNA head coach Jordan Marks’ squad had an average margin of victory in three WPIAL playoff games of 33 points and the average scoring differential in their five wins on the Road to Hershey was 23.8 points per game. The Bulldogs were the only WPIAL boys basketball team to capture a PIAA championship in 2025.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Chartiers Valley, Jeannette, Neighborhood Academy, South Allegheny, Upper St. Clair