Dan Prete to leave Bishop Walsh; Spartans return to local basketball schedule

Apr. 20—CUMBERLAND — Bishop Walsh boys basketball head coach Dan Prete will leave his position at the end of the academic school year, Bishop Walsh announced on Thursday.

Bishop Walsh will return to having a local varsity basketball team next season, according to Principal Jennifer Flinn.

Prete also served as the school's athletic director and a school guidance counselor for the past five years.

"Coach Prete has changed the course of athletics at Bishop Walsh," said Flinn. "We are extremely grateful to have had him at BW and wish him the best in his future endeavors."

Under Prete's leadership, Bishop Walsh reached new heights as a basketball program, achieving unprecedented success at the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament and joining a national basketball conference.

Prete's Spartans became the first in school history to win multiple ACIT games in the same tournament, doing so in 2022 when Bishop Walsh downed Bishop McNamara, 47-46, and Mount St. Joseph, 71-70, on consecutive Mikey Allen buzzer-beating 3-pointers on back-to-back nights.

Bishop Walsh repeated the feat this past season with victories over Catholic, 68-55, and Bullis, 63-57.

Prete leaves Bishop Walsh with a career 5-4 ACIT record.

In Prete's first season at Bishop Walsh, the 2018-19 Spartans went 20-8 against a mostly local schedule. Bishop Walsh won its second game at the ACIT that campaign, 78-71, over Mount St. Joseph.

Bishop Walsh followed with an 18-11 campaign, but it saw a premature end due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled the ACIT six hours before the tournament's start.

The pandemic again affected the 2020-21 season, limiting the Spartans to just six games of which they won one. Again, the ACIT wasn't held.

Bishop Walsh joined the National Interscholastic Basketball Conference at the start of the 2021 season, putting the small Catholic school from Cumberland in the same hat as some of the elite high school programs in the nation.

Night in and night out, the Spartans sparred with nationally ranked foes IMG, Montverde, Sunrise Christian, AZ Compass Prep, Wasatch, Legacy Early College and La Lumiere.

Bishop Walsh ended the 2021-22 season 9-15 and 1-9 in the NIBC, beating Wasatch Academy for its lone conference win. However, the season was sweetened by a record-breaking performance at the ACIT.

This past season was Prete's most difficult in Cumberland. The Spartans again won just one NIBC game in 12 tries, toppling first-year conference foe Oak Hill in their final game before the ACIT. Another 2-1 ACIT finish put BW's record at 6-18.

While a 2-20 NIBC record isn't much to write home about, membership in the conference allowed Bishop Walsh to bring national powers to Cumberland for showcase events.

During the Bob Kirk Invitational Showcase, a three-day event between Dec. 8-10 this year at Allegany College of Maryland, Western Maryland was treated to high-level basketball played between the likes of Montverde, Legacy, La Lumiere, Sunrise Christian and Oak Hill.

Prete's Spartans were also able to bring a pair of Washington Catholic Athletic Conference foes to the area in Paul VI and Bishop McNamara for nonconference games at ACM.

Bishop Walsh sent several players to the Division 1 level during Prete's tenure: Olivier Nkamhoua (Tennessee), Mike Williams (LSU), Jalen Miller (Rutgers), Yavuz Gultekin (Texas A&M, San Diego), Dimingus Stevens (Seton Hall, Florida A&M), Travis Roberts (Jacksonville State), Callum Baker (Fairleigh Dickinson, Flagler), Ismail Habib (Texas Rio Grande Valley), Dwayne Koroma (Iona) and Jordan Rayford (Air Force).

Prete came to Bishop Walsh in 2018 from St. James, bringing with him more than 20 years of coaching experience. He's coached five National Basketball Association players: Kevin Durant, Justin Anderson, Greivis Vasquez, Terrence Ross and Linas Kleiza.

Before arriving in Hagerstown, Prete served 11 years as the assistant head coach at Montrose Christian in Rockville under Stu Vetter. The Mustangs were nationally ranked in every season and finished No. 1 in the Washington Post high school rankings four times.

A native of Boston, Prete moved to Montgomery County and graduated from Poolesville High School, then went to Greensboro (N.C.) College.

He was the head coach at St. Andrew's Episcopal for one year and then went to Quince Orchard High School as an assistant before making the move to join Montrose Christian.

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.