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Trovato named permanent Hillie basketball coach

Friday, April, 11 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

The "interim" tag is no longer part of Mike Trovato's title.

That became official last week when Trovato was hired as the permanent Haverhill High head boys basketball coach. He was one of only two candidates, the other being former Whittier head coach and Haverhill assistant Larry Snow.

Haverhill High athletic director Pete Shanahan said it wasn't surprising that there were only two serious candidates or that Trovato got the job even after the Hillies suffered through a 3-17 campaign, which was their worst in more than 25 years.

"I think everyone in the Merrimack Valley knew that Mike did a good job and that's why there weren't more applicants," said Shanahan. "He's doing a nice job working with the youth programs. ... He's trying to turn things around."

Trovato, 28, made a point of visiting all the Haverhill middle schools and offering clinics around the city, but he recognizes that much more needs to be done.

"The biggest thing is that kids aren't going to the high school and that's what we have to change," said Trovato. "The only travel team was one run out of Cedardale, and that hasn't helped. We're going to have the Booster Club run travel teams for sixth through eighth grades.

"We want to get kids playing together and then want to come to Haverhill High as a group."

At the same time, Trovato will be organizing spring clinics and hopes to set up a summer basketball camp in Haverhill along the lines of those run at Central Catholic and Andover. More construction at the high school could make that difficult to get underway this year but, he says, "if it doesn't happen this year, it'll happen next year."

While plotting for the long-range future, Trovato is upbeat about next year's Hillies.

"We only lose two players (Ismael Rios and Anthony Perez) and I think we're going to be a lot better than people think," said Trovato. "We're setting a goal of getting back to the state tournament and I think that's realistic.

"The hardest thing last year was coming in so late (he was hired in October). The kids needed time to adjust to what we were looking for, but they got better and they're going to keep getting better.

"The kids just need to play a lot. We're all set for Hoops for Hope and we're getting things lined up for a bunch of summer camps. We have a lot to do, but I'm excited about the possibilities."

  As for the head girls position, Shanahan expects to name a new coach next month to replace long-time head man Kevin Woelfel.