Road well-traveled: Basketball brings Dante Calabria back to Pittsburgh, this time at Bethel Park
BETHEL PARK – It might be a reach to say Dante Calabria’s basketball journey has come full circle, but not by much.
His fascinating career has taken him to the University of North Carolina where he played for one of the NCAA’s true blue-blood programs.
It took him to Europe, where he played 16 seasons in the professional leagues of Italy, Spain, Greece and France.
Once his playing days ended, he transitioned into a journeyman coaching experience that’s now reached seven destinations.
Calabria’s latest stop: Bethel Park High School.
He’s in his first season as head coach of the Black Hawks, who play Class 5A basketball in the WPIAL. Bethel Park’s gymnasium is located 45 miles away from the court at Blackhawk that Calabria played on as a high school phenom.
“It’s not Beaver County, but it’s still the Pittsburgh area and it’s still the WPIAL,” he said.
Calabria, 49, relocated back to western Pennsylvania recently because he wanted to be close to his parents, Chad and Michelle Calabria, who live in Chippewa Township.
In recent years, he tried landing a coaching job at some small colleges in western Pennsylvania and even a few high school jobs.
When the Bethel Park job opened after the 2021-2022 season, Calabria expressed interest. Athletic director Dan Sloan received over 25 applications, including some from current WPIAL coaches.
But on May 24, Bethel Park hired Calabria, whose most recent coaching gig was a two-year stint (2019-2021) as an assistant at Barry University, an NCAA Division II in Miami Shores, Fla.
“I was looking for a coaching job that might be a good fit,” Calabria said. “When I interviewed, they apparently liked what I talked about.”
What’s not to like?
When Calabria played at Blackhawk, his coach was the legendary John Miller, whose sons Sean (Xavier) and Archie (Rhode Island) coach on the major-college head level.
During his three seasons at Blackhawk, Calabria led the Cougars to three straight WPIAL 3A titles and a state championship as a senior in 1992.
As a junior and senior, Calabria starred on teams that went 62-2.
A 6-foot-4 guard, he made 66 3-point shots as a senior, averaged 27 points per game and was named Pennsylvania’s 3A Player of the Year. He finished his high school career with 2,252 points and still ranks 14th on the WPIAL’s all-time scoring chart.
Calabria earned a scholarship at North Carolina where he played for coach Dean Smith. Calabria played in two Final Fours, including 1993 when he was a reserve guard on the Tar Heels' national championship team.
He then played 16 years of pro ball in Europe, mostly in Italy.
When asked if his current Bethel Park players understand what an outstanding player he was, Calabria said "I don’t know. I don't know if they know about my days at Blackhawk and how successful we were as a program. Maybe they've Googled it."
Once Calabria quit playing, he started to coach.
He first served as director of basketball operations and then as assistant coach at UNC Wilmington. He coached at Montverde Academy in Florida and at Basket Taranto in Italy. He then coached at Keiser University, an NAIA program in Florida, as an assistant under Rollie Massimino. After Massimino's death, Calabria was named Keiser's interim head coach through the end of the 2018 season.
In June of 2018, Calabria worked as assistant coach under Larry Brown for the Italian basketball club Auxilium Torino.
Calabria then spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Barry University.
So, at various points during his career in basketball, Calabria has been coached by or coached with some legendary coaches.
In high school, it was Miller, who’s in the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame, WPIAL Hall of Fame and Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Miller led the Cougars to eight WPIAL titles and four state championships and compiled a 583-222 record.
Smith won two national titles at North Carolina (1982, 1993).
Brown won a national title at Kansas (1988) as well as a championship in the National Basketball League (2004) with the Detroit Pistons.
Massimino won a national title while coaching at Villanova (1985).
Smith and Brown are in both the Basketball Hall of Fame and College Basketball Hall of Fame. Massimino is in the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
“All four of them were great. I absorbed a ton from them,” Calabria said of Miller, Smith, Brown and Massimino. “But I also played for some top-notch coaches in Europe.
“So, I can bring a lot of different ideas. I can combine a lot of stuff I learned in the U.S. with a lot of stuff from European basketball. I’ve been fortunate to have learned from some great coaches.”
So far this season, Bethel Park is off to a decent start as it transitions from Class 6A, where it’s been the past six seasons, to 5A.
It’s a rebuilding year for the Black Hawks, who graduated seven seniors, including four starters, from last year’s 16-7 team that lost its first-round playoff game. Right now, they’re 7-3 overall and, at 2-0 in Section 1 play, sharing first place with Thomas Jefferson.
Although Bethel Park isn’t among teams ranked in weekly rankings by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette or Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, it should make the playoffs
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Calabria, who’s also working at Shoot 360 Pittsburgh, a basketball training facility in Bethel Park.
“Fortunately, I have a good group of kids and they work hard. They’re willing to try. They’re willing to listen. They give effort. That’s the one thing that’s been consistent, the effort, and I’m really pleased with that. They do try.
"I’ve thrown a lot of things at them that they probably have never seen before or have never done before. They’ve really come with eyes open and ears open and really tried to do what I’m asking them to do. And they are getting better.”
Historically, Bethel Park has won two WPIAL titles, the first under coach Red Ryan in 1989, and then again in 2007 when current Quaker Valley coach Mike Mastroianni coached the Black Hawks.
Since that WPIAL title in ’07, Bethel Park has made the playoffs 10 out of 15 seasons and compiled a 6-13 postseason record.
“After our first win, I knew it was the first time some of our kids ever played varsity, so in the locker room, I asked, ‘How many of you have played varsity before? Is this the first time any of you played varsity?’" Calabria said. "Fourteen of the 15 kids raised their hands. So it's kind of nice that we're starting from scratch.
“I’ve gotten the most out of them from the beginning," added Calabria, who's already been inducted into the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame and the WPIAL Hall of Fame.
"They’ve picked up a lot. You can see it by watching (Friday night’s) game. Some things go well. Some things don’t. But the constant that’s been there is the effort and the energy.”
Bethel Park plays again Tuesday at Connellsville (0-12 overall, 0-2 section).
Then on Friday, it hosts Thomas Jefferson (6-4, 2-0) in a battle for sole possession of first place in the section.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Road well-traveled: Basketball brings Dante Calabria back to Pittsburgh, this time at Bethel Park
