JOE PETROCELLI FILE
50 seasons at Alter: 1963-2013.
Record: 831-305; 2nd in all-time wins.
73.2: Winning percentage.
District titles: 25, in 27 games.
Regional titles: 9.
State titles: 3 (1978, ’99, 2001).
State runner-up: 2003.
Longest home winning streak: 77 games (1971-81).
GCL coach of year: 7 times.
The pay is better elsewhere. The players, passion and program second to none.
That’s what some lucky coach will inherit when Alter High School fills its vacant boys basketball head coach position sometime this spring.
If you’ve followed area boys hoop at any time during the last 50 years, you know all about Joe Petrocelli and the Knights. There was no avoiding Alter, especially in the postseason.
Self-deprecating to a fault, “Petro” was the antithesis of a large-and-in-charge court-side personality. That was his style for 50 seasons at Alter.
Sure, he rolled his eyes and pleaded for calls. But he just as often shrugged and retreated to his seat on the bench. Like us, he liked a good show, too.
He was never the show. That was left up to the hundreds of players who proudly wore the Knights’ brown and gold while Petro was in place.
He took himself out of the game for good following Alter’s 53-42 setback to Columbus Watterson in Thursday’s boys Division II state semifinals. He retires with a lengthy and impressive list of records, career marks and hall of fame nods.
A scorebook hoarder, he can look up his starting lineups for 1,136 games.
Most impressive, he takes with him a long and rich chapter of Dayton-area basketball excellence that may never be matched.
We’ve watched him nurture the Knights program from its infancy in the 1963-64 season (Alter played a JV schedule) to a state heavyweight.
He retires as the state’s No. 2 all-time career winner with 831 victories. To hit that many wins, Alter averaged 17 victories per season. Much of his career was spent in 18- and 20-game regular-season eras.
Alter hasn’t had to fill that coaching position since JFK was our nation’s main man. Assistants Mike Gordon and Eric Coulter will likely be at the front of what should be a long line of potential new faces to take over.
Here’s what Petro, 75, had to say about that and a lot more:
About this unlikely final four finish: We won, sometimes we didn't get here and sometimes we did. This about tops them all. Just a great effort by these kids. The word I used was a magnificent season. No matter how you cut it, it was a magnificent season and one that I'll always remember.
Last-game thoughts: I've been preparing for it for the last six or seven games. Every game was the last game, the last practice. … It was such a treat because the kids were so good. Not great players – Jaaron (Simmons) is – but just really good kids. You don't get that every year, believe me.
What happened against Watterson? We just did not execute very well for one reason or another. I don't know if we were too tight or too loose. That happens. We've been here before and done this before. A lot of times when you think this is the one that you can win, you don't. It's really a crap shoot.
What he'll miss the most: Practice. I love practice. Games are tough. … You put your heart and soul into it and hope for the best. That's what I've done for 49 years. If somebody told me that you're going to coach for 49 years and you're gonna do these things and win these championships, I would have thought they were nuts. I thought three-four years was the max. I got a few extra ones in there.
Then why stay so long? We kept getting the really good players all through the '70s, the '80s and '90s. You just couldn't leave. You say, well, a couple more years. … I've hung on long enough. Forty-nine years is plenty.
Long time coming? In retrospect, it's gone by pretty quickly. … I even snuck into a couple hall of fames. … It's a lot of luck. I've always said that I'm a very lucky person. We weren't as lucky (Thursday) as we could have been, but Watterson was very, very good.
How about senior guard Jaaron Simmons? He's had an unbelievable career. To pass up Andy Meyer (as Alter's all-time leading scorer) is incredible. … he went over 1,600 points … 4-5-6 scoring records … I've been there so long, we have a brothers (all-time) scoring list and a father-son (all-time) scoring list. … We have records that nobody has because I've been the coach the whole time.
Was this the perfect way to go out? We weren't supposed to do anything. I had three (starting) sophomores. … It's come to an end. If it's going to end anywhere, better out here. It's a great place to be. There's nothing more exciting than a basketball state championship.
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