SEWICKLEY—Not many schools have experienced the cycle of coaches that the Sewickley Academy boys basketball program has seen the past three years after longtime coach and athletic director Win Palmer died unexpectedly in August 2023.
After one season under head coach Jim Dudas during which the Panthers qualified for the playoffs, Sewickley Academy turned to former Robert Morris associate head coach Mike Iuzzolino and the move has paid off.
Before Iuzzolino took over the reins in May 2024, the Panthers finished above .500 overall record three times in the past six seasons.
This season, Sewickley Academy (14-2, 9-0 2A-II) is on pace to have its best season since 2017-18 when the Panthers won their second consecutive WPIAL title after posting an 18-4, 13-1 record.
Sewickley Academy may be having a strong regular season, but the move for Iuzzolino to a high school head coach from an assistant at the Division I level was a big adjustment.
It has been a learning experience for the former longtime Colonials assistant due to the limited access that he has to his players.
“You don’t have access to players like you do in college because they go to school during the day so you have to fit in what you can in a small window. While you are in college, you have all day to do something with the players but here, you don’t have as much access to the guys. I don’t want to teach them too much in practice because over-teaching with the amount of time that you have with them could be a bad thing. But we come in each day and get everything done and it has worked well so far.”
One of the keys to the Panther’s success this season has come from the team’s preparation ahead of games.
Early in the offseason, Iuzzolino began talking to the team about working with intensity during practices to make sure that they were prepared for the next game.
“You never rise to the occasion, you always fall to the level of your training. That is a quote from the Navy Seals and we talk a lot about it. You need to come in to work hard every day in practice because you just can’t turn it on during games. These guys have caught onto that now and embraced it.”
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While the team has found success in the regular season with the exception of dropping two games to Nazareth Prep and Farrell, offensively, Iuzzolino knows that it is not an area that the Panthers are strong in averaging just over 58 points per game.
However, Sewickley Academy has made up for it on defense which is an area that Iuzzolino makes sure that he has his players focused on
“Defense has been something I have stressed with the players since day one. We have not always shot the ball as well as I would have hoped, but I am okay with that because defense wins games and offense dictates how much we win by, Iuzzolino said. “Giving a hard defensive effort every night is hard for young players to understand. We have athletes that can pressure the ball and also have a shot blocker with Adam Ikamba who can make up for some of our defensive mistakes.”
One of those players who has had to grow on the defensive side is Lucas Grimsley who has been one of the Panthers’ leading scorers the past several seasons and this year is no different.
Over the team’s most recent three-game win streak, the junior guard is averaging just over 16 points per game.
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Grimsley knows that while he may have success in scoring, he knows that he also has to have the ability to defend.
“Coach Iuzzolino never gave up on me when it came to learning defense and I have continued to get better. I have had to fall in love with the defensive side of the game as much as I did with the offense. Everyone wants to shoot the ball like Steph Curry but no one wants to play defense like Patrick Beverley.”
Along with Grimsley, Sewickley Academy has two big men in Adam Ikamba and Mamadou Kane who have been a force in the frontcourt for the Panthers.
Ikamba, a sophomore, has been a force on the defensive side of the ball with his ability to block shots.
Kane has missed a majority of his freshman season after being sidelined with a shoulder injury after the first game of the season but returned during the team’s section game against Eden Christian Academy earlier in January.
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“Both Adam and Mamadou have so much upside potential,” Iuzzolino said. “I think that anytime someone looks at those players and sees how big they are, they think that they are complete but they have a long way to go. The great thing about them is that they are always open to work and be coached.”
Outside of the underclassmen, the Panthers do have a senior leader with experience who has helped the team come together.
Nolan Donnelly has been a four-year starter with the Panthers and outside of his role as a player on the floor, he also sets the example off the court as well.
“Nolan has been a warrior for us this season,” Iuzzolino said. “He sets the example to the younger guys daily not just on the court, but also off the court as well. He embodies what Sewickley Academy is all about.”
Now with the final games of the regular season approaching, the Panthers know that they cannot take a game for granted.
“We need to stay locked in, we won’t be able to sneak up on teams anymore. We need to respect every team whether it is the last place team in the section or the people right behind us,” Grimsley said.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Sewickley Academy finds success in first season under Mike Iuzzolino
