Masters' DeMello to Be Inducted into New York State Basketball Hall of Fame

 

"I actually just enjoy when someone allows me to walk into a gym and I spend two, two-and-a-half hours with young people that are interested in the game," said DeMello, who has lent his expertise to all of Masters' boys basketball teams since arriving four years ago. "I get them comfortable playing the game and then get them to come back the next day and do it again. That's the thing I enjoy the most. I really do." 

 

This tireless approach has resulted in DeMello's peers recognizing him with the ultimate honor: selection into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame.

 

The induction ceremony is slated for March 2020 and will be held at the Glens Falls Civic Center during the New York State Federation Basketball Tournament. 

 

"I'm truly honored," DeMello said. "When (the Basketball Coaches Association of New York) sent me a history of what I've done — especially with the teaching component — I thought back at it all and said, 'Wow, that's a lot of basketball.'"

 

Indeed. 

 

DeMello's resume reads like a page out of the Guinness Book of World Records. In his 34 years coaching the sport — from high school to college and everywhere in between — he's organized and run over 40,000 AAU/travel tournament games, 20,000 youth practices, 6,000 summer and fall high school league games and 300 weeks of basketball camps. 

 

Not surprisingly, DeMello has become known as something of a local basketball guru. 

 

"I've been playing for (DeMello) since fourth grade," said Michael VanDemark, a senior captain for Masters' varsity basketball team. "I've known him for a while and he's been a great mentor for me. He just knows the game so well and sees everything. It's very impressive."

 

DeMello's career started out at Mount Vernon High School in 1987, where he played and later got his start as an assistant coach under then coach Tony Fiorentino, who went on to become an assistant with the Miami Heat. DeMello then took over Rice High School's program in 1989, serving as the school's athletic director and basketball coach. DeMello transformed the now-defunct Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) program into a national power over the next six seasons. He guided Rice to a CHSAA city title and a NYS Federation crown in 1993-94, teaming up with superstar Felipe Lopez to take the national prep basketball scene by storm.

 

"In the late 1980s and mid-’90s, the CHSHAA was probably considered the best league in America," DeMello said. "They had four or five pros coming out every year. Rice had never won a state championship. At 27 years old, I was eager to start and build a program."

 

DeMello moved on from Rice to become the head coach at Concordia College from 1994-96. He has run various AAU programs, camps and competitive prep tournaments in the time since, focusing heavily on developing young talent. 

 

"I've been very fortunate," DeMello said, reflecting on his career. "I've had some really good players and coaches that I've been able to work with. They either assist me or I assist them. It worked out. In terms of high school, college or seventh and eighth grade, it's just basketball. If you have the right teaching component in place, it's just repetition. If the kids have a love for it, they will get better." 

 

In 2016, DeMello connected with Masters’ athletic director at the time, Kevin Versen, and came on board. He's currently an assistant on the varsity boys basketball team, helps out with the middle school boys basketball program and serves as a middle school physical education teacher.

 

"We are extremely proud of Lou and all of his accomplishments," Director of Athletics and Physical Education Logan Condon said. "He has brought so much to the Masters basketball program and even more to our community. We are grateful to have him on our team."

 

DeMello worked alongside former head varsity boys basketball coach Matt Kammrath to help Masters win the New York State of Association of Independent Schools championship in 2017-18. VanDemark, a first-year varsity player at the time, fondly recalled the title chase. 

 

"I remember in our run to the championship (coach DeMello) said that there would be no better feeling than putting a (championship banner) in the rafters," VanDemark said. "That's part of history forever. He told us to work hard, keep doing what we were doing and we would have a great shot at winning it. That really motivated us to want that." 

 

DeMello has been impressed with Masters' student-athletes during his time at the School, highlighting Rashid Woods ’19 as a shining example. Woods — currently a freshman on the Western Connecticut State University men's basketball team — has already made an impact at the next level.  

 

"The greatest complement is to get feedback from college coaches that they love your kid — that's the reward," DeMello said. "Rashid's season started on October 15 and by November 15 I was getting a text from the assistant coach at West Conn that they love Rashid. He's a great kid and practices really hard. That came from (Masters). The School itself is responsible, the Athletic Department is responsible, and the coaches and teammates are responsible."

 

DeMello's coaching career — which saw him shoot onto the national stage in his early 30s — has never been about the headlines. He left the elite-level national prep coaching scene and never regretted it.

 

"It didn't interest me anymore," DeMello said earlier this week at a seventh grade boys basketball practice in the Fonseca Center. "This is more what I'm comfortable doing." 

 

And then he walked back to practice, focused on every last detail as the players ran through fundamental drills. For DeMello, it was the very essence behind it all.