HYANNIS – Could it be the best kept secret in high school sports on Cape Cod?
Well, that’s the way it appears it’s being played out in regard to the hiring of a new Barnstable High boys’ varsity basketball coach this weekend after the time came and went Friday for an expected announcement that former Dennis-Yarmouth boys’ head coach John Piemontese was the man for the job.
Barnstable High School principal Patrick Clark could not be reached for comment today but sources say he is now involved in the search for and hiring process of the new Barnstable High School boys’ varsity basketball coach even though a search committee and athletic director had already made its selection from a wide field of qualified applicants.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com Sports file photo
Earlier in the week, a five-person search committee led by athletic director Scott Thomas voted unanimously to select Piemontese as the 20th man to take the Barnstable High head hoop position since the program’s inception in the early part of the 20th century. Piemontese was one of seven finalists whittled down from a list of 15 semifinalists which had been culled from as many as 40 applicants for the job since two-year head coach Chuck Kipnes stepped down after the season.
In a brief phone conversation with Piemontese Friday evening he said he had not yet been told he “officially” had the job but had been told that “they are now going to let me know after school vacation.”
Some pretty big names in Cape Cod high school basketball applied for the job, several with years of quality varsity head coaching experience.
Neither Thomas nor Barnstable High School principal Patrick Clark returned messages asking why the hiring announcement was now being delayed. Clark’s voice mail message stated that his message box “was full” before being automatically disconnected.
On his professional resume submitted to the BHS Basketball Coach Search Committee, Piemontese listed a significant professional background that included teaching and head coaching assignments at Whittier Tech in Haverhill, Canton High School, Pembroke Middle School and Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High, all of which were, without question, verified. He was also the athletic director at both Whitter Tech and Canton High School and, according to his resume, is currently employed as Dean of Students at Cape Cod Technical Regional High School in Harwich.
That’s where things may have become slightly dicey for Piemontese.
In an email to Capecod.com Sports earlier today (Saturday, April 18), Cape Cod Regional Technical High School Principal Billy Terranova shed some interesting light on Piemontese that certainly opened the door for some questions.
“John Piemontese does not currently work at Cape Cod Tech. He served as a dean of students from September 2010 through June 2012. He has not work (sic) for the district since that date,” Terranova’s e-mail stated.
According to Piemontese, Clark interviewed him after the search committee and athletic director had made their selection and was pointed in wanting to know why the former coach/athletic director had left at least one of his previous jobs. Piemontese was a teacher at Pembroke Middle School before landing the Dean of Students position at Cape Tech in 2010.
According to sources, a decision has been made by Barnstable school administrators to “re-open the position for more applicants” and that Clark himself now has a direct hand in the selection process.
Barnstable public schools are currently on April vacation through the end of next week.
It could not be determined whether the search committee would reconvene or whether any of the 40 or so original applicants, 15 semifinalists or seven finalists would be re-interviewed if a decision to not hire Piemontese is made by school administrators.
In a March 9, 1997 Boston Globe article, it was stated that Piemontese had been head basketball coach at Bunker Hill Community College and an assistant coach at Salem State and Bridgewater State but none of those positions were listed on his resume nor were immediately verifiable.
— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm
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