YORK TWP. — The opportunities were too enticing to ignore.
At 31 years old, Buckeye boys basketball coach Matt Saunders realized an offer to become assistant principal at Barberton Elementary West was a rarity for an educator his age.
At 32, Brunswick assistant coach Tom Harrington saw gym teacher and head basketball coach openings at a neighboring school. That combination doesn’t present itself often, either.
The end results: Saunders is hanging up his whistle to further his professional career and Harrington, the former Highland coach, is back in charge of a Medina County program while also replacing Saunders as a teacher.
“It came down to there’s a teaching position available, and it’s very important to teach in the same school district you coach in,” Harrington said. “I know being in Medina County that Buckeye is excellent academically. That was very attractive, and I know that there’s a great sense of community pride there. You add all those things together and I felt like that was a great fit for myself and my family.”
Harrington, who lives in Medina and is married with two children, was longtime Blue Devils coach Joe Mackey’s lead assistant the past five years — he added he has a special place in his heart for Mackey and the Brunswick community — and compiled a 68-12 record as the Blue Devils’ junior varsity coach before taking over Highland for the 2009-10 season.
A teaching position never opened at Highland, however, giving way for Harrington’s return to Brunswick. The Hornets went 8-14 in his lone season but posted a six-win improvement over the prior year and set a school record for defensive scoring average (46.6).
The former Holy Name and Baldwin Wallace point guard takes over an experienced Buckeye roster that went 15-8 and finished second in the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division last winter. All-Gazette guard Nathan Polidori (19.1 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2.7 spg), center Nick Wills (8.8, 5.0 rpg) and forward Liam Murray (7.8, 4.8) are returning starters, while the junior varsity compiled a sparkling 19-3 record.
“I know they’ve been very successful the last several years, so that was something that also was attractive to me throughout this whole process,” Harrington said. “To know that there’s a winning mentality, that’s invaluable. I’m looking forward to hopefully coming in and implementing our system and getting the most out of the kids both as people and as basketball players.”
Saunders departs with an 81-76 record over seven seasons. In 2013-14, the Bucks broke a 56-year-old school record for wins with 21 and set another standard with a 47.0 defensive average. Saunders was Gazette Winter Coach of the Year and shared Ohio Division II Coach of the Year honors.
The Rocky River native spent the last two years at Baldwin Wallace University working toward an administrative license. In what he called “a last-minute thing,” Saunders became aware of the Barberton opening, applied, interviewed twice and was offered the job.
The Medina resident’s decision came quickly out of necessity, but that didn’t make it any less difficult.
“For one, we put that program in a position where it can have sustained success going forward, and watching them realize that success will be enjoyable for me,” said Saunders, who added he’s confident Harrington will take the program to greater success. “The hardest thing for me was the senior group because I had those guys as a teacher since they were in fourth grade. All of my eight years at Buckeye were with that group, so that was hard calling those kids and letting them know why I was leaving and explaining to them that the expectation for them is still really high.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.