When you hear the name “Dagostino” muttered around the Capital Region, most of the time it’s in conversations revolving around former Saint Rose point guard and professional basketball player Steve Dagostino. On other occasions, conversations might refer to his brother, Kenny, the current men’s basketball coach at nearby Hudson Valley Community College. Or the reference may be to a Dagostino who preceded them and taught them both everything they know. That Dagostino would be their father, Ken Dagostino, the boy’s varsity head coach at Mohonasen High School.
Despite all the success and basketball acumen he possesses, Coach Dagostino downplays his role in Steve and Kenny’s success, saying, “My wife and I never made a play or scored any baskets for Guilderland, Iona, or St. Rose, or earned either of our son’s accolades. What we did was try to provide any opportunities we could for them to participate, have fun, and succeed in activities of their choosing, and with those opportunities, for both of us to be involved and supportive as parents, coaches, and fans.”
Humility aside, coach Dagostino’s level of success cannot go unheralded. After coaching at the lower levels at Guilderland High School before becoming the varsity assistant there, Dagostino took over a struggling program at Mohonasen, a class A school playing in the AA Suburban Council. Mohanasen was used to finishing in the basement of the standings. but Dagostino turned the program around almost as soon as he arrived. In his seven seasons as varsity coach, he has led the Warriors to five winning seasons, four Section II Final Fours, two Suburban Council South Division co-championships, and the 2010-2011 Section II Class ‘A’ Championship.
“Basketball was definitely my favorite, mixed in with baseball, soccer, and bowling. Everybody seemed to enjoy playing the sport of the season. It didn’t matter if it was during the school season, in community leagues, at the Boy’s Club, or just in the neighborhood. There weren’t many ‘one sport only’ athletes in those days. The neighborhood games may have been the roughest, most competitive, and probably the most fun.,”Dagostino reminisced about his youth growing up during the mid-1970’s in Rotterdam, NY , home of Mohonasen Central School.
After high school, Dagostino went on to play two years at SUNY Cobleskill and one year at Castleton State College. The only returning senior during what he describes as a “rebuilding year” under a new head coach, Dagostino decided to sit out that year, ending his college-playing career. It was the Athletic Director at Castleton who urged Dagostino to stay involved with the game, helping him land a job as junior varsity coach at Poultney High School in Vermont. “Although at 21, and a college senior, I was really much more interested in playing than coaching. But, he was a man of good advice, and I’m glad I listened.”
Upon graduating from Castleton, Dagostino served one year as a volunteer assistant coach at Schenectady County Community College. He was then offered the Graduate Assistant position at Division I West Chester State College, a position he accepted before deciding to forgo graduate school in order to go work for his family’s business, Dagostino Building Blocks.
When asked about the rest of his coaching career and how he landed at Mohonasen, Dagostino summed it up: “After [getting] married, and both our sons [were] born, I coached one varsity season at Duanesburg HS. I then got back into coaching with Kenny & Steven through St. Madeleine Sophie CYO, Guilderland CDYBL, and AAU. I returned to interscholastic coaching as the freshmen coach at Guilderland with the opportunity to coach my son Kenny’s team, going 20-0, and winning the league. Two years later Guilderland HS wisely hired Ron Osinski and he was kind enough to add me to his coaching staff for the next five years during Kenny and Steven’s high school years. Then on to Mohon! “
Since becoming the varsity head coach at Mohonasen, Dagostino has turned an ailing program into a Suburban Council contender year after year. Dagostino credits his players and the community, saying: “Our student-athletes are the ones truly responsible for the success at Mohon. They’ve allowed us as a coaching staff to change the Mohon basketball culture by being open-minded and receptive to our new program philosophies. The people and atmosphere at Mohon, on every level, are very professional, supportive- a fantastic environment to coach in. Everything there is always about the kids, first and foremost. Our overall goal each season is to work as hard as possible, and no matter the outcome, to always make the Mohon and Rotterdam community proud of our program and each and every one of our student-athletes and student assistants, both on and off the court, now and as future Mohon alumni.”
Solid defense is at the core of the style of play that Dagostino has instilled at Mohonasen. In fact, when asked of his coaching philosophy, he answered only with one word: “DEFENSE!” He went on to elaborate: “The foundation of our offensive and defensive philosophies, modified through varsity, remains the same from year to year. But, our techniques and strategies within these philosophies adapt with our personnel. More so than not, we are usually in a “rebuild” situation each season, as compared to many schools, especially on the ‘AA’ level, which basically load and reload every November. Our coaching staff really welcomes this challenge. It allows us to be creative and innovative, and keeps our system fresh each season for us as coaches, the players, and the fans.”
Being a Class A school in the Class ‘AA’ Suburban Council would seem to put Mohonasen at a disadvantage every night. But with two Suburban Council South Division co-championships, they have turned that disadvantage into a non-factor. Dagostino was asked about always playing schools that are much bigger. “It’s great, I love it, and I wouldn’t change a thing! The league is so competitive, and all the coaches and ADs do a fantastic job and are really good guys. We don’t allow making any ‘Mohon’ excuses or talking about being a small A’school in a big AA Suburban Council. We don’t get caught up on win-loss records or the scheduling of games for sectional seeding purposes. We just want to scrimmage and play the best competition possible, private or public schools. Our mindset is to always compete as if we too, are an AA school, in practice and in games, and to be as tough as any Section II team in any league, in any classification,” he says. Their four appearances in the Section II Class A Final Four would suggest that playing such a grueling regular season schedule sets them up for success come sectional time, when they play schools their own size.
You’d think that the 2011 Class A Section II Championship would be the thing that coach Dagostino is most proud of, but being a very down-to-earth human being, he takes the most pride in the fact that, aside from turning a program with a 15% winning percentage before he arrived there into a perennial contender, Mohonasen is among the top defensive teams in Section II year after year, with an average of less than 50 points per game allowed over the last seven seasons.
Coach Dagostino doesn’t have one particular coach he admires most over the rest. “It’s so many different coaches over the years on all levels, CYO through the pros, that I’ve learned from by being involved with, watching, attending clinics, talking with, or coaching against. I really look forward to learning and gathering new ideas when preparing for teams and their coaches every game each season.”
When asked what advice he would give to the younger generation of coaches eager to move up through the ranks, Coach Dagostino offers up this: “Hear, listen, and have open, polite, and respectful communication with your players and their families, especially on the high school level. Together, they have only one four-year high school window. You need to connect your program off the court with the community as much as you connect on the court with your players. You need to know their names, you need to know their parents’ names. Community relationships and parental involvement are such an essential part of [a] program.”
It’s this very advice that has helped coach Dagostino get to where he is today, and that has helped him and his staff turn the program at Mohonasen into one of the best in Section II.
“At Mohon, you’re not just the varsity coach, but the program coach and liaison to the players and families from 3rd grade CYO/CDYBL through the 12th grade varsity level. I feel a personal responsibility to make it the best possible overall experience for everyone involved. Maybe it’s because I’ve been there as a parent, maybe it’s because I was born and raised in Rotterdam. But, for sure, it has nothing to do with winning or losing, or how competitive you are, that’s a given. And there can’t be any inflated coaching egos involved. These players are still teenagers, not college scholarship athletes. We’re role models, not six-figure salaried coaches. At graduation in June each year, I want all of our guys to receive their diploma as proud Mohon student-athlete alumni, treasuring the small part basketball has been for their high school years, no matter how many minutes they played or how many points they scored.”
We would like to thank coach Ken Dagostino for taking the time to speak with us and to wish him and his program a very successful 2012-2013 season. We here at Upstate Scout have no doubt they will stand among the Suburban Council’s finest yet again, come February. Go Warriors!
Mike Long, Jr. – Staff Writer
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