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Mostardi takes over as Rustin's second-ever boys' coach

09/22/2021, 2:30pm EDT
By Jason Guarente

Jason Guarente (@JasonGuarente)

West Chester Rustin faced a challenging task over the summer. It needed to find just the second boys basketball coach in school history.


Vince Mostardi (above) has taken over as Rustin's boys' basketball coach. (Photo courtesy Vince Mostardi)

Vince Mostardi landed the job. He was hired to replace Keith Cochran, who turned the Golden Knights into a District 1 challenger during 15 seasons on the bench.

“This is definitely my dream,” Mostardi said. “I’m all about taking young kids and developing them not only as basketball players but as people. That’s my strong suit. That’s what I love to do. That’s what drives me every day. I’m extremely excited and grateful at the same time.”

Mostardi is getting his first chance to be a varsity coach. He was an assistant at Upper Darby last season and has previously worked at the freshman level.

The Archbishop Carroll grad has a connection with Rustin girls coach Lauren Stackhouse. The two worked together with the Delco Goats.

“We always talked about potentially coaching together,” Mostardi said. “Building up that AAU program, I found out how great and loyal a person she is. It’s going to be the same type of community at Rustin. That made me feel comfortable and gave me the confidence that the school is the right fit for me.”

Mostardi, whose younger brother Joe also played at Carroll, started to get the coaching itch when he played at Penn State-Brandywine. Then-assistant coach Mike Lavetsky encouraged the guard to give it a shot.

Success as a player never came easily for Mostardi, who graduated from PSU Brandywine in 2015. He didn’t make Carroll’s varsity until he was a senior and was mostly a reserve in college. Although he didn’t enjoy sitting and watching, the experience provided some lessons.

“I think it made me a better person,” he said. “When I was in school I was really immature and didn’t know how to handle those situations. Not being able to play made me realize what a good teammate and a good overall program player should be like.”

Cochran was the longest-tenured coach in the Ches-Mont League. He guided the Knights to the District 1 Class 5A final in March. Griffin Barrouk, Rustin’s top player, suffered an injury in the first quarter of Chester’s 62-46 victory.

Barrouk has moved on to Hofstra. Jacob Barksdale, another of Rustin’s top players, has graduated. Ian Schlesinger, a 6-3 junior; Sam Sproul, a 6-0 junior; and Kolbe Freney, a 6-2 senior, are among Rustin’s notable returnees.  

Mostardi wants to keep the bar high.

“I’m coming in expecting to win right away,” he said. “There’s not going to be any drop-off from the last couple of years. But we also have a lot of young talent in the West Chester area. I’m excited to build off that.”

Mostardi, a teacher in Marple Newtown School District, accepted Rustin’s offer on Sept. 3. He planned to meet with his players for the first time this week.

The season is approaching fast. Mostardi is focused on putting together a fall schedule and getting everyone in the gym as soon as possible.

“Everything is still sinking in,” he said. “I think over time it’s going to show I was the right choice, even though I’m so young in the game. No one loves the game more than me. I’m someone who would sleep in the gym if I could.”


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