The position of boys basketball head coach at Atlantic City high school has been the most coveted position in South Jersey for generations.

Since Bill Swain held the position from 1955 to 1977, the winning tradition of this storied program has been consistently excellent.

Swain’s long-time assistant Bill Deveney followed Swain and enjoyed a highly successful career.

Bob Lester, Joe Fussner, Mo Griffin, and Fussner protégé Gene Allen followed in this great tradition.

Former Atlantic City Superintendent, Barry Caldwell, and current Superintendent, La ‘Quetta Small have done a great disservice by leaving this coveted position vacant for an extended period of time since Allen left.

Multiple well-placed sources have advised that the administration has finally made a decision. It’s an “open secret,” yet the Board of Education, which has to approve the recommendation has not been notified who the successful candidate is.

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There are several young, enthusiastic locals who could do a nice job with this position: Elijah Langford and Wayne Nelson to name a few.

We spoke with Atlantic City Board of Education Member John Devlin, who avoided certain aspects of this issue because it is a personnel matter.

However, in an exclusive interview, Devlin unloaded on the process utilized by Small.

It’s a travesty that the flagship of Atlantic City Sports is with out a coach for this long.
I’m sadden to think of all the valuable time our players have lost not having a head coach and missing out on camps, clinics and team tournaments.

 

This lost time can not be replaced and unfortunately puts our children behind other high schools.
I have not been advised who the next coach is; however the superintendent said they put out several searches which in part makes me very skeptical because this is exactly how the superintendent search went.
I hope this search was not politically compromised, and our children can prosper under the new coach.

 

Crazy to think we found a superintendent before we found a head coach and the community knew who they were before the board does.

 

It’s a sad day here in the city of Atlantic City, said Devlin.

We know who the successful candidate will be, however, we do not want to dishonor their big moment by spilling the beans in advance of the recommendation being placed on the Atlantic City Board of Education agenda.

This much I will say. The candidate as I know it to be, is a fine young man, who played his high school basketball career locally in the Atlantic County area.

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This hire must take place as soon as possible, as the Atlantic City boys basketball program has already been placed at such a disadvantage by taking way too long to fill the important vacancy.

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