Wakefield–Wakefield has had a number of girls coaches in recent years, and is now turning to former Wakefield head and alum Marcus McKinney to once again lead the program. McKinney has been at a number of places, recently Alexandria City, but is Wakefield through and through.
Westfield–The Bulldogs also brought back someone who has been in the job before, Alice Andersen to replace Noelle Klippenstein, as the well-respected veteran coach relocated in the offseason. Andersen coached some very strong Westfield teams back in the 2000’s, when she was known as Alice Pennix.
Herndon—Jack Brown replaces Mike Wills at Herndon, who is now at Chantilly as an assistant. Brown has ample experience with AAU and high school basketball, to include with the Fairfax Stars. He is a Safety and Security Specialist at Herndon.
Marshall–Mike Trivisonno recently decided to step down at Marshall, but the Statesmen replacement is no stranger to the school. Doug Sawitzky has been a JV head/varsity assistant for both the school’s boys and girls programs for the better part of 15 years, and he coaches AAU on the boys side for NOVA Cavs.
South Lakes—Tom Hinckley begins his tenure in Reston this season. He was an assistant at McLean the past few seasons and coaches girls AAU for PV Thunder.
West Potomac–Easy continuity here as Joe Petrucelli takes over for Brian Colligan. Petrucelli has been a varsity assistant for the Wolverines since 2016 and teaches Special Education at the school.
Battlefield—Brett Schwemer replaces Kelly Cordle at Battlefield. Schwemer was an assistant at the school under Cordle and works as an attorney.
Woodbridge—Courtney Coffer made an interesting switch in the offseason, resigning his position as Varsity Boys Head Coach to lead the girls program. Now he gets to coach his freshman daughter Zoey along with the other talented young Vikings.
Colgan–Fred Milbert stepped down in the offseason after a great career coaching at Colgan and elsewhere. Jacqueline Zizzo is the new coach. She graduated from Colgan in 2017, just a year after the school opened, was an assistant at Gar-Field last year, and played college basketball at St. Joseph’s (NY).
Gar-Field–Speaking of Gar-Field, Mookie Felder takes over there. Felder is a Potomac HS basketball legend, a former Prince William Player of the Year, and has coached at Northern Virginia Community College.
Freedom-Woodbridge–A lot of turnover in the Cardinal District–Freedom decided to move on from Darryl Overton in light of the successful football coach’s new job at Hayfield. So, the Eagles hired former Forest Park standout Mia Lloyd. Lloyd played college basketball at UDC and was recently an assistant at Woodbridge.
Independence—Zach Orchant is the new coach at Independence. Orchant has a lot of experience, including stints at Park View as Boys Head Coach, and at Briar Woods as an assistant under Raven Short.
Briar Woods—Mike Gallagher, meanwhile, replaces Short at Briar Woods. Gallagher has a strong resume mostly on the boys side of the ledger, as an assistant at Stone Bridge and Riverside.
Heritage—Tayler Dodson Cook is now at Heritage after a successful tenure at Tuscarora. The former George Mason University standout takes over a veteran team, with solid players like Addison Padgett and Alyssa Stanford in the mix.
Tuscarora–The Huskies went with Kiana Evans to replace Cook. Evans played at Marshall University in West Virginia and was a graduate assistant there, so she certainly knows the game.
Loudoun County—Raven Short surprised the NOVA basketball community when she moved to Loudoun County after leading Briar Woods to its first girls basketball regional championship in school history. She will seek to bring similar success to the Captains, who have a rich girls basketball history themselves.
–Chris Jollay