DiPatri and Johnson Ready to Lead Crusader Girls Hoops

Wildwood Catholic girls’ basketball is the talk of local sports as winter approaches.
Last week, 6-2 transfer Kennedy Johnson sat in the North Wildwood school beaming with joy after signing her commitment to attend Michigan State University.
The former Sacred Heart High School star comes east along with her former coach, Steve DiPatri, who amassed 352 wins and just 90 losses in 16 seasons with the Hearts.
The Crusaders finished 13-12 a year ago, their second season under Vicki Dilmore, who succeeded long time Catholic girls’ and boys’ coach Fran St. John.
Catholic Athletic Director Sal Zuccarello made the difficult yet intensely interesting decision to not renew Dilmore in favor of DiPatri, a two-time state champion.
The 43-year-old DiPatri hopes gas prices continue to decline as the weather turns cold. He lives in Vineland and works as a school administrator in Bridgeton.
Can you say Buckshutem?
DiPatri, who coached Sacred Heart to the 2012 Cape-Atlantic League crown, led his 2013 squad back to the CAL title tilt only to come up short versus Holy Spirit.
Johnson’s decision to travel the road to southern Cape May County speaks volumes of her and her family’s feelings about him.
“The best things about coaching Kennedy are the relationship I have with her family and how close we have become over our three seasons together,” said DiPatri. “She has a strong desire to be coached and to improve her game. I am proud to have assisted her in her dream of earning a scholarship to a BCS school.”
DiPatri called Johnson, “Physically, the strongest player I have coached in my 16 seasons.” He said Johnson has inside and outside skills that made her a Division I recruit.
“Her defense was the project her sophomore year and last year it was her outside shooting,” said DiPatri about Johnson’s improvement as a player. “This year it will be her perimeter offensive and defensive games.”
DiPatri said that he and his staff have “prescriptions” they want each player to focus on.
The Crusaders return a veteran squad and Johnson’s presence should serve to open up the perimeter and create opportunities for teammates.
“Kennedy helps make up for mistakes,” said DiPatri. “She is there when our guards are pressed, she’s there to stop dribble penetration down the lane and clean up errant shots.”
As for his adjustment to his new squad, DiPatri didn’t waste any time this summer.
‘Our first task this summer was to teach our players our system,” he said. “We worked a lot on the whole or big picture of our play. If we were an army you would call it our grand strategy.”
The coach said he hopes to “expand on the whole” during the season while also focusing on the little things “so the big picture will take care of itself.”
DiPatri said he is prepared for the suddenly friendly confines of Wildwood Catholic’s tiny, venerable gym, which for generations, has caused headaches for visiting squads.
“I have coached 17 games in that gym and always found it an exciting place,” he said. I remember an 82-77 game in 2000, a one-point victory in 2001, and Ashley Durham hitting a half-court buzzer-beater in ‘09.”
DiPatri said the Crusader gym “has an aura about it like the Palestra or Fenway Park with its blue stands and loud acoustics.”
The new coach said his biggest adjustment will be the way he organizes certain practice drills. “The differentiation of instruction is a key to good coaching and the smaller gym will simply add an extra variable to consider,” he said. “Thankfully the ‘Shooting Gun’ we fundraised for at Sacred Heart is now part of our Wildwood Catholic program as well.”
As for his commute to his new adventure, DiPatri cited the message it sends to his team.
“My commitment to drive an hour for practice has helped the buy-in from our players,” he noted. “As a coach you must lead by example. Our players see my commitment level to them by my willingness to travel.”
Regarding the time he’ll spend sitting in his vehicle, DiPatri has summoned help from The Boss. “I downloaded every Springsteen track so I can enjoy some good music up and down Route 347,” he said.
DiPatri is fortunate to have a senior class “loaded with great kids” and has already revamped the schedule, introduced an off-season program, built a new coaching staff, fundraised for new uniforms, and installed a new system.
“The Wildwood Catholic family could not have been more supportive thus far,” said DiPatri. “Cape May County is a basketball hotbed and the enthusiasm for our program has energized our kids with the goal of building a program capable of winning a championship year in year out.”
Reach Rossi at joerossi61@comcast.net