Bob Daggett officially has a new home.
The former St. Peter’s girls basketball coach and his signature towel will be back on the sidelines next season at Curtis, both he and Warriors athletic director Eric Ritzer confirmed Sunday. The Post first reported back in May that the legendary head man was in talks with Curtis and was likely going to join their staff after St. Peter’s closed its doors in June.
“It’s just nice to have a team to coach,” Daggett said. “It was a little funny not having one. It’s good to have a place today. It felt very funny [to] do something for a long time and then to not have it.”
He will not be the only former Eagle en route to the St. George public school. Rising junior Kristen Olsen, who had a major impact on the varsity late last season, and five members of last year’s St. Peter’s junior varsity team, which lost in the CHSAA city final, will follow Daggett. The desire of these girls to stay together and Curtis’ ability to make that happen was one of the major reasons why Daggett felt it was the right fit for all.
“It’s a good situation for them,” Daggett said. “For me it’s a great situation to go to a big school, big student population, and opportunity to try to accomplish something.”
That will have to happen with Daggett holding the title of assistant coach because the PSAL requires the head coach to be a certified teacher and have a file number with the Department of Education, something he does not have. According to Ritzer, Lorna Gilly will remain on as head coach after taking over in December for Meghan McKenna, who was on maternity leave.
“When you have the opportunity to get a Bob Daggett with over 400 wins, 25 years of experience, how could you not be excited to have him join your staff?” Ritzer said. “It’s just an amazing opportunity for us. It lets Bob continue coaching. It’s an absolute no-brainer. [Principal] Dr. [Aurelia] Curtis and I are thrilled about Bob joining the program.”
During his 23 years as the head coach at St. Peter’s, Daggett led the small all-girls school to 16 straight CHSAA Staten Island titles, including one last season. He compiled a record of 459-152 and is considered by many as the best girls basketball coach in New York City.
Ritzer said that the thought of adding Daggett came from mutual friends. He reached out to gauge his interest after a season in which the Warriors reached the PSAL Class A finals under Gilly and assistant coach John Curatolo, who will not return. McKenna and Curatolo, a 10-year member of the coaching staff, were informed by the school of the decision to add Daggett late last week.
Curatolo said he was told that Daggett would do a better job recruiting than Curatolo did by Aurelia Curtis. He said she then back tracked from the use of the word recruiting. Recruiting middle school student-athletes was actually deemed legal in a statement to The Post by the Department of Education two years ago.
Curatolo, who prides himself on coaching the kids who walk into the building and sending them off to college, compared the administration’s current view to that of an NBA franchise.
“It’s high-school basketball — everyone should be trying to win,” he said. “What different direction are you going in? Is it something that people say when they want to get rid of you? I don’t know.”
The move was news to McKenna, who was a four-year letterwinner in basketball and softball at the school. Her entire family went to Curtis and has sponsored a scholarship there for the last 30 years in her uncle’s name. McKenna said she had every intention of returning as head coach, despite Gilly’s name being put in her place on the PSAL website because of rules regarding maternity leaves.
Ritzer said there was no need to make a change since Gilly was in the position last year.
“I figured I was going to have my job back,” McKenna said.
The situation left other PSAL Staten Island coaches scratching their heads about exactly what went down.
“I understand Curtis is getting a great coach, but what about Meghan? Did she get fired?” McKee/Staten Island Teach coach Peter LaMarca said. … “I think it’s a wild precedent being set.”
Gilly will remain and Daggett is added to one of the most successful PSAL programs on Staten Island in the last few years, winning a division title under Dot Guerriero in 2008-09. The Warriors graduated their two best players in Dana Gildea and Ayo Adedapo from this season. Curatolo did the bulk of the in-game coaching. Daggett is unsure if things will work the same way for him going forward.
“I didn’t see them last year so I have no idea what it was like and what it was like for John,” Daggett said. “I haven’t talked to him. It’s something brand new for me, so I will have to wait and see what it’s like.”
What he does expect is a new venture after nearly two decades of dominance over the CHSAA. In his eyes, he gets a chance to help a different program reach new heights in a very new league for him.
“I believe they don’t have a lot coming back from last year’s varsity team,” Daggett said. “I don’t know their team well. It might take a little bit of time but I’m up for the challenge.”
Additional reporting by Marc Raimondi
