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Pennsbury grad Wes Emme returns home to coach Falcons

06/21/2022, 10:00am EDT
By Rob Rose

Rob Rose (@RobRoseSports)
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Wes Emme was so excited he couldn’t wait to share the news of where he will be next season.

Emme spent Thursday night anxiously scrolling through sections of school board meeting notes to make sure his name was included in the section that had just been approved. He didn’t hear his name called during the meeting but after he read over the people officially hired and knew he was included, Emme couldn’t help but send out something on Twitter right away.

No words were needed, just a gif that said everything for him. Emme posted a clip of a Falcon, a symbol that the 2005 Pennsbury graduate had landed back home as the new boys’ basketball head coach.

“I don't do this because I like basketball, I don't do this because I like coaching, I do this because I love it and I'm absolutely immersed in it,” Emme said. “It was just like a symbolic moment for me. It's just an exciting moment and a little fun, a little foreshadowing of what you can expect from my social media.”

Former Jenkintown coach Wes Emme was recently named head coach at his alma mater Pennsbury. (Courtesy Wes Emme)

(Photo courtesy Wes Emme)

Emme joins Pennsbury after 11 seasons at Jenkintown in the same role. During his time there the Drakes went 115-152. Last season, the team won a division championship for the first time in 31 years.

Bill Coleman retired from coaching at Pennsbury earlier this year after 12 years to be able to watch his daughters play basketball.

While he was at Jenkintown, Emme admitted that he wasn’t able to spend as much time as he wanted working within the community to build the program. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and kids, worked at another school and would drive to Jenkintown after for practices.

Along with the head coaching gig, Emme will also be a teacher at Pennsbury.

With a built-in connection to the Fairless Hills area, Emme was excited about the future of the program now that he will teach and coach at the same school and at the place that created his passion for the sport.

“It's just been this giant triangle my entire coaching career, and it hasn't really allowed me to really immerse myself in the community the way that I knew that I would if I was just going to one place,” Emme said. “My family is still in the area. My (former) baby sitter’s backyard is Pennsbury High School East. It's one of those situations where you couldn't make it up in terms of how well it will fit for me and as a family because they obviously come first.”

Emme grew up going to Falcons games and his father, Wayne, had his name on the wall in the gym after a great Pennsbury career. While his name didn’t end up next to his dad’s, Emme was a team captain and leader on a Falcons team that won a division title.

During his time at Jenkintown, Emme stayed in touch with several people in the Pennsbury program and tried to keep up with the team as much as possible. A decade ago he returned to the school as the opponent for the first and only time during a preseason scrimmage and hated that feeling.


Wes Emme (Class of 2009) was a team captain when he played for Pennsbury. (Courtesy Wes Emme)

While Emme wanted to focus on building up the program from the youth level, leading the team next year will be a challenge with only a few players back with varsity experience and finished fourth in the SOL Patriot Division last season.

Rising senior Ty Kocak was named to the SOL Patriot honorable mention squad after he averaged 14.5 points per game. The Falcons will need to find 31 ppg to replace SOL all-stars Evan McNeely and Aidan McCormack. who led the team as seniors.

Along with Kocak, rising juniors Connor Taddei and Teddy Mangan got playing time and will take on bigger roles this winter.

This week, Emme endured several different emotions as he left two schools that meant a lot to him and joined the one that molded him. 

As he officially began this new phase of his career, something he heard former Villanova head coach Jay Wright say during his retirement press conference resonated with him.

Emme enters this role with an energy and passion to bring success to Pennsbury that just wouldn’t be possible at any other program.

“I get to be the coach of Pennsbury High School,” Emme said. “I know that might be difficult for someone to understand that's not in it, but that's a major source of pride for me and I couldn't wait to get started because I knew that I got that chance. Now, I get to go out and prove it every day to the kids and just give back and give them as much as I have so that they can have an experience like I had.”


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