Cartolaro Returns to the Sidelines
Mike Cartolaro couldn't stay away for long. Just 13 months after stepping down at Altavista, where he guided the Colonels to three consecutive State Championships from 2013-15, he'll be back on the sidelines.
Cartolaro is returning to be the Head Boys Basketball Coach at Parry McCluer. He spent the past year there teaching alternative education and holding an administrative role, serving as Assistant Athletic Director.
The lure to be coaching at his alma mater was too strong for him to pass up.
"Really the reason we came back here was to be with my dad and that is the top priority. The superintendent talked to me a few weeks ago, asked me if I was interested and the next thing you know I'm back coaching," Cartolaro told VirginiaPreps.com.
"I feel like I owe the community that gave me my passion for sports and most specifically basketball."
Cartolaro, 56, has won 502 games in his decorated coaching career that includes stops at Monacan, Orange County and Virginia High besides his highly successful run at Altavista. With the Colonels, he won 403 games and four state titles, the first coming in 2004, over a 21-year span.
This past year marked the first in about 35 seasons Cartolaro said that he wasn't coaching. It allowed him to re-charge his batteries.
"In some ways it was a good break to step away a little bit. The wear and tear obviously takes a toll on all of us, especially as you get a older," he noted.
"There were some things I missed about it for sure and there were some things I didn't miss. But it was a very unusual year for me because I've been so used to coaching, even before I became a Head Coach."
Parry McCluer finished 9-15 overall in 2015-16, overcoming an 0-11 start to finish strong and earn the #5 seed for the Western Gate Conference 45 Tournament. The Fighting Blues defeated Narrows 48-41 in the tournament's quarterfinals before falling to eventual 1A State Champ Radford, 62-31 in the semifinals.
"That might be bad news for us," Cartolaro joked about now coaching in the same conference as Radford, a program his Altavista team beat to win the Group 1A state title in 2014. "Rick [Cormany] does a great job and we've had some great games in the past."
At 3-11 last season, the Fighting Blues dismissed Head Coach Josh Blevins and replaced him on an interim basis with Troy Clark, the school's Head Softball Coach and an assistant football coach.
Blevins succeeded coaching great Nelson Fox, who won over 500 games before retiring following the 2013-14 campaign. Parry McCluer went 12-12 overall in Blevins' first season at the helm.
Cartolaro inherits a rather experienced group as only one senior - Cameron Wheeler - graduated from last season's team that featured eight juniors, two sophomores and a freshman.
"Obviously we've got a lot of guys back. The biggest thing I want to do is get them acclimated to how I want to play," Cartolaro stated.
"We're going to be a man-to-man team defensively and pretty much a motion game offensively. I hope that we have some depth and if the opportunity is there to take advantage of full-court running. More than anything, getting in the gym and used to each other."
Matthew Hatfield serves as State Basketball Analyst for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10 AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.