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New Coach
Donte Adams comes over from the prep program to take over the Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball program next season. Photo by Marc Allard.
A new energy.
It’s what Donte Adams hopes to instill in the Woodstock Academy boys’ basketball team next season.
Adams, an assistant with the Woodstock Academy prep basketball team this past season, was named head coach of the boys’ high school team recently.
“That’s something I am good at, bringing the best out of kids,” Adams said. “I’m going to definitely bring the energy and tell them that we’re going to work. I want to make them want to be here so that they will actually enjoy coming to practice. It’s going to be an exciting season.”
Adams takes over a team that finished with three wins this past season and will lose six players to graduation, leaving a good number of players with varsity experience.
“I’m super-excited and I think the kids will be also,” athletic director Sean Saucier said. “I got to know (Adams) well this past fall and he has a great demeanor and a great attitude. I think he draws people to him and I think he’s a good fit to the lead the program. A different energy, a new energy, can change things and it’s not always about the wins and losses, it’s more about the energy and resurgence of the program. I want to see where he can take us.”
Adams said Saucier wasn’t the only one who was happy that he accepted the position, so was prep basketball coach Jacque Rivera.
“Jacque was all for it. He said to me that it was an opportunity for me to grow, build my resume and become a better coach. I’m definitely going to continue to help the prep program as much as I can, too,” Adams said.
Adams hails from New York City where he attended Eagle Academy, an all-boys school, in the Bronx, and played basketball.
He went on junior college in Nesho, Kan.
If it sounds like it was in the middle of nowhere, it’s because it was, according to Adams.
But the school belonged to one of the best junior college conferences, the Jayhawk Conference, in the country.
He moved on from Nesho to Cecil College, a Div. II school in Bay View, Md., where he played for only two years, but still managed to score 1,000 points and was named a third team Div. II All-American.
He also played for the University of Central Missouri before finishing his collegiate career at Talladega College in Alabama.
From there, he went pro and played basketball for San Luis Potosi and Chihuahua in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional, the top professional basketball league in Mexico.
“I was a little all over Mexico for three years and knew I wanted to give back. I was given the opportunity to get into coaching and started off with an AAU program in Pittsburgh training and working, both girls and boys from sixth grade to high school, coaching a lot of games on the weekends,” Adams said with a laugh.
This past year was his first on a staff in a high school or prep setting.
“I learned a lot in my first year on the prep staff and I’m going to bring a lot of that down to the high school team,” Adams said. “The higher the level, the more work you have to put in, the more you have to do to get to where you want to go. Whether it’s playing at the college level, going to college, or just get a job after graduation. I’m just bringing the philosophy that hard work gets you this; put in the time, the dedication to the game, you will be rewarded.”
He is also a paraprofessional at the school and, as such, has already begun to interact with Woodstock Academy student-athletes.
“I have started to build a relationship with them. They know me when I come into class and I try to build relationships all over campus. If I see a student sitting alone or a group of students, I stop and talk to them. They always see me with a different pair of sneakers so we always have something to talk about,” Adams said.
It’s also a chance for him to settle down and establish some roots after hopping from place-to-place for the past several years.
“I just want to be more solidified; Being the high school coach here, helping make great things happen, on-and-off the court. I plan to be here for a while,” Adams said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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