Get to know three new high school basketball coaches in Palm Beach County

New basketball coaches have been hired by Royal Palm Beach High School, Lake Worth High School, and Cardinal Newman High School, and they each arrive via different routes. 

One was a longtime assistant coach. Another was a junior varsity coach. The third was the school's athletic director with coaching experience elsewhere.  

But they all share the same goal — building winning programs while developing their players on and off the court.

Girls basketball:Palm Beach County players get another chance to impress at Orange Bowl college showcase

Football:Here's how four county high school football coaches are approaching a shortened summer

More football:New coaches bring their own vision to Somerset, Olympic Heights

Royal Palm Beach promotes boys basketball assistant Deonte Savage to head coach

Deonte Savage, a Royal Palm Beach alumnus, spent five seasons as a Wildcats assistant and replaces former boys basketball coach Marshall Riddle, who resigned after two seasons with the program.

“It’s honestly a dream come true,” Savage said. “I think that since I haven’t really coached anywhere else, this is the perfect scenario for me because this is all I know; this is where I’ve been. I’m very connected with the community and the parents.”

Savage started his coaching career in 2014 with the Savon’s Academy Stars, a travel program in Royal Palm Beach, before his alma mater hired him as an assistant in 2016. 

Although he will be taking over a young team that lost seven seniors from last year’s 6-8 season, including Post all-county large-schools second-team selection Chris George, Savage hopes to put the best foot forward in 2021-22. 

“I’m not really big on expectations,” he said. “What I’m focused on right now is just running a good program, doing the right thing, getting these kids to graduate, and I think the wins will come from us doing things the right way.”

However, Savage plans to mold his team into a formidable opponent through consistent training and conditioning.

“We’re going to strive to be the best transition team in the county, and I want people to know that when you come to play Royal Palm Beach, you have to come play hard because we’re going to play hard,” he said.

Lake Worth hires Edward Alexander Jr. as girls basketball coach

Edward Alexander Jr., also known as Coach A, comes to Lake Worth after two seasons as head coach of the John I. Leonard High junior varsity boys basketball team. 

After serving in the army during the Gulf War, Coach A began his coaching career in 1998. Since then, he has accumulated over 20 years of experience coaching high school and travel programs throughout Florida and his home state of California.

He will be tasked with rebuilding a depleted Trojans program that had its 2020-21 season cut short due to a lack of players.

During his time in the army, Alexander felt welcomed by the communities where he was stationed, and he strives to bring that same family atmosphere to his teams. 

“My players all throughout my coaching career know that I care about them,” he said. “It’s not just basketball; it’s not just ‘What can you do for me on the court?’ These are student-athletes that know they can call me at any time in the day or night.”

This upcoming season may be a rebuilding year, he said, but he has his sights set on the future.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to gain more talent and get to the point where student athletes now want to transfer into the program,” he said. “Long term, I want to set a precedent that we send our student athletes from the girls basketball program to college. That’s the goal.”

Cardinal Newman hires athletic director Andre Torres as boys basketball coach

Andre Torres was Cardinal Newman's athletic director this past school year, and now he's their boys basketball coach, replacing Tavarus Harris. 

Torres has 13 years of experience as a head coach, most recently at Hollywood- Chaminade Madonna, where he was the boys basketball coach from 2012 to 2020. Along with coaching basketball, Torres was the Lions' athletic director for several years.

Besides his eight seasons at Chaminade-Madonna, which included a Class 3A state semifinal appearance in 2020, Torres also has experience coaching travel programs on the Nike EYBL and Adidas Gauntlet circuits. 

“I look forward to building upon the great basketball tradition at Cardinal Newman High School and the student-athletes that make it so special,” Torres said in a news release.

Several of Torres’ players have gone on to become standout college players, including University of Dayton junior Toumani Camara, Florida Gulf Coast redshirt freshman Andre Weir and American sophomore and 2021 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Johnny O’Neil.

“We’re very excited to have Andre Torres assume head coaching responsibilities of our boys basketball program,” school president Br. Thomas Zoppo said in a news release.  “With his years of coaching experience, passion for the game, and dedication to the mission of Cardinal Newman, I know Coach Torres will be an excellent mentor for our student-athletes.”