Mike Vukovcan Most people don’t listen with the intent to listen and learn; they listen with the intent to reply.
The word ‘listen’ contains the same letters as the word ‘silent’.
Established in 1986, family owned and serving the Beaver County community for over 40 years. Serving breakfast favorites and lunch specials.
I kept all of that in mind last night as I was extended the opportunity to sit in on a coaching staff meeting with the Hopewell HS Boys basketball team. Head coach Doug Biega and five of his assistants got together to discuss plenty of topics concerning the 2025 team.
The coaches and players have been working since the start of summer holding open gyms and shoot around sessions. Last night, the Hopewell basketball brain trust met to summarize some of what they saw and to look ahead as official practice begins next week.
Personally, I went there just wanting to learn more about the players on the roster, their skill set and to get an off the record vibe about how the coaches feel about the team.
I had no intention on writing a story/commentary but after listening to these guys talk basketball for 2+ hours, it was impossible for me not to write something on the biggest takeaway I left with. I already knew that Doug Biega was one of the best coaches in the WPIAL. With a career record of 385-118 (77% winning pct), 11 section championships, 4 WPIAL Championships and 2 PIAA Championships, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.
It doesn’t matter what level of sports we’re talking about; successful head coaches all have some common traits, one of the most important yet least talked about things is they surround themselves with smart/talented people.
After spending the evening with this Hopewell staff, it’s very obvious that Biega has done just that. I can’t tell you how impressed I was and learned from listening to these guys talk basketball- from the X’s and Os to daily practice structure, how they’d use certain players, strengths and weaknesses of the team, etc.
I didn’t say a word, just listened and man was that beneficial.
Members of Biega’s high school coaching staff include- EJ Coleman, Michael Sims, Dwight Hines, Javon Turner, Donovan Jeter and Kaden Vandervert.
The biggest reason these men will do well and gain instant credibility from the players is their ‘street cred”. All of them carry with them the ‘been there done factor’.
This isn’t always the case in sports but these guys will have instant respect from the players and when they talk about something, instruct a player on how to do something or even give them tough love, players will listen.
Hines was previously a successful head coach at Aliquippa and Sto-Rox as well as player at Aliquippa, Turner was a big-time performer and winner at Beaver Falls, Jeter was a championship performer both as a football and basketball player at Beaver Falls, Coleman is a WPIAL and PIAA Championship winner at Beaver Falls and Blackhawk, Sims won a WPIAL Championship at Central Valley and Vandervert was a member of the Hopewell baseball coaching staff that won a WPIAL in 2023.
Similar to when Matt Mottes took over the football program, this won’t be easy. Over the last 11 years, the Hopewell boys basketball program has a combined record of 52-202. Let me repeat that, 52-202.
Winning isn’t going to happen instantly just because Biega took over. That’s not the way things work.
However, he didn’t come out of retirement to lose and these coaches didn’t join him to lose. These men are career winners and that will be the expectation from day one at Hopewell.
After getting hired, I remember Biega telling me that I’m going to bring in and have one of the best coaching staffs in the WPIAL.
And although they haven’t coached a game yet after spending time with them, you can feel that things have changed with Hopewell Boys Basketball.
Here’s a spoiler and not a prediction- like with the football program, the days of Hopewell Boys basketball being viewed as a losing program are over and winning basketball is on the way. It won’t be a question of if, just a matter of how soon.
