March 14, 2001

Others Comment on Wildwood's Success Under Troiano

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist

When Dave Troiano won his third state championship on Sunday he accomplished something that no other Cape-Atlantic League girls basketball coach had ever done. In fact, very few coaches from the five-county South Jersey area have brought home three NJSIAA trophies.

It makes you wonder. Why is this guy so successful? What is it that he does so well? To find out, we asked a number of people who should know.

FRAN ST. JOHN (Wildwood Catholic girls coach): "Dave has done a great job and I saw it up close this season. He gets the girls to play his type of game. One of his greatest talents is his ability to adapt and get his players to adapt. He can win with superstars and he can win without them."

ROY WRIGHT (Lower Cape May girls coach): "Dave has a certain knack that gets kids to perform. You hear people say that he has Monica. But the success the last two years is more than just Monica. He gets his kids to play over their heads. They are always prepared. And he is always involved with them. In fact, it's not just his kids that he cares about. He cares about people. He was the first person to call me when I got the job at Lower. He is the best."

WALT DULL (Wildwood principal and former high school coach): "Mr. Troiano does the stuff I grew up with. He is disciplined, fair, funny and challenging. He is a great teacher and a great person. There is not a minute wasted in practice. In this time when everybody resists being a role model, he is role model. He knows where his players are 24 hours a day. When a kid needs something, he knows it. But he draws a line in the sand. He remains the coach and teacher. The kids probably know he's just growling sometimes but they also know he's saying something they should hear. And, like the other successful coaches I have known, he surrounds himself with great assistants and lets them do their jobs."

JOE FUSSNER (Richard Stockton College coach): "As an observer and former high school coach, I think the fact that Dave has stayed at Wildwood and developed loyalty is important. He gets that back from the players, the school and the community. His players always play hard for him. And, when he has had special talents - like Monica - he has been able to integrate the rest of the players to create a team that can set high goals that are reachable."

ROCCO SANSONE (Wildwood boys coach): "Dave is very consistent in his preparation. He is very detailed and is a no-nonsense type of guy. He keeps his kids busy during the off-season and the kids play hard all the time. And another big reason for his success is his great passion for the game."

LARRY DiGIOVANNI (Holy Spirit girls coach): "Dave teaches strong, fundamental basketball at both ends of the court. He takes the talent he has and puts those players into situations where they can be successful. It is a great skill."

SAM BOTTA (former girls coach at EHT): "In my years at EHT, I don't believe we ever played in a regular season game against Wildwood. (If we did play you can tell that I'm either getting old and senile, or else we lost to them and I have a very selective memory). We did have the opportunity to scrimmage Dave's Wildwood teams on a number of occasions. There are several things that stand out to me about why Dave has been so successful. First, his teams were always well-drilled and played excellent defense. Also, they would make you pay for mistakes, whether you made them at the offensive end, defensive end or in transition. Most importantly, I believe no matter what the level of talent Dave had in a given year, he was able to maximize his team's potential. Some coaches excel when they have a lot of talent, some coaches excel when they have less talent. Dave Troiano excels with any team."

BILL MAZEROSKI (Hall of Famer): "Dave who?"

Okay, so you can't win them all. But this guy has come close, winning 404 games, the most by any girls basketball coach in CAL history.

He has won championships with teams that were favored and with underdogs. He has, as many of his fellow coaches have pointed out, won with great talent and with just good balance.

At a time when the City of Wildwood is struggling to preserve its identity and the school's athletic department has battled with the Cape-Atlantic League to maintain its competitive level, Dave Troiano and his girls have provided the community with something of great pride.


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