City of Basketball Love

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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Dan Marsh told Charles Grasty that whoever succeeded Grasty as head boys’ basketball coach at Abington was in for a real challenge.

The more he thought about it however, the more Marsh seemed drawn to that challenge. In his 18 years leading the Abington girls’ basketball program, Marsh had helped build the Ghosts into a powerhouse in the Suburban One League, District I and the state of Pennsylvania but there was an opportunity he didn’t know if he’d get again and wanted to test himself with.

Marsh was named Grasty’s successor on Thursday, officially taking over as Abington’s boys’ basketball coach.

It wasn’t a decision he made lightly.

“I was talking to Coach Grasty about it and eventually decided to apply. It’s a new challenge, it’s a new way to contribute to the Abington community and keep that good thing going that he had going,” Marsh said. “That’s what it is, it’s not that I didn’t enjoy coaching the girls, because I thoroughly did but it seemed like the time to find something new.

“Once I went through the process and the interview and was able to take the job, I had a decision to make and decided it was the right move for me right now.”

Marsh led the girls to District I titles in 2010 and 2017, regularly had the team in position to contend for Suburban One League conference titles, pushing for 20-plus win seasons and challenging deep into the postseason. He helped send numerous players on to the college level and coached the program’s two career leading scorers in 2015 graduate Deja Rawls and recent Class of 2023 graduate Cire Worley, who passed Rawls in January.

Abington’s girls ended the 2022-23 season in a PIAA 6A quarterfinal loss to eventual state champion Archbishop Carroll and despite losing Worley to UMass-Lowell, looked to be ready for another strong season this coming winter. That’s why it was so difficult for Marsh to, in a sense, stay on the same street but change addresses by taking the helm for Grasty, who was named Abington’s athletic director in May to replace the departing Todd Vaccaro.

“I poured my blood, sweat and tears into the program and between all the players, former players and coaches, it was a great thing we had,” Marsh said. “I’m hopeful one of my assistants can pick that job up and carry on.”

The Ghosts boys finished the 2022-23 season 13-12 overall with a 10-6 mark in the SOL and fell a win short of states, losing in the first round of playbacks in the District I 6A tournament. Under Grasty’s tenure, Abington’s boys became a powerhouse in their own right with District I titles in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019, a district title game appearance in 2021 and a PIAA 4A semifinal in 2014.

“When it first happened that our AD resigned and Grasty took over, I said ‘I feel sorry for the poor sucker that takes Grasty’s job’ and here I’m that poor sucker,” Marsh said. “As a competitor and as a coach, that’s what attracts me to it, the pressure and the expectation is something that will motivate me.

“That’s the new challenge. I’m sure there will be a lot of doubters if a girls’ coach can move to the boys’ side and that’s motivation for me, I want to go in, work hard and live up to that.”

It wasn’t uncommon over the years to go to an Abington basketball game, boys’ or girls’, and see players from the other team in the stands provided they didn’t have a game of their own. Certainly, the fact that both teams usually had fairly strong playoff seeds and hosted plenty of district playoff doubleheaders helped, but there’s always been a bond between the two programs so Marsh already knew most of his new players.

Grasty and Marsh not only shared success - just this past season Grasty surpassed 250 career wins while Marsh went past 405 career victories - they had a good relationship which Marsh joked changes a little bit now because Grasty can fire him. Marsh also said he considered it a compliment that Grasty not only trusted him to take over the program, but to do so with Grasty’s son entering it as a freshman.

That said, Marsh still wanted some continuity in the program if he was going to take over.

“One of the biggest reasons for me to make this move was (assistant coach) Gary Massey,” Marsh said. “I sat down with Gary Massey and he told me that if I came over, he would stay with me. That was really important as far as the transition goes, being able to keep him on staff so the kids wouldn’t have too much of a change."

Aside from Massey, Marsh said longtime statistician Sam Szymanek is returning to the staff and 2021 graduate Caleb Baker will be joining as an assistant coach.

“I didn’t want to come in and clean house, they had such a strong foundation already,” Marsh said. “I felt I just need to come in and add a thing or two that’s maybe a little bit different.”

Marsh got a positive first reception on Thursday as well. He’d barely been announced as the coach when some of the players started reaching out about getting into the gym on Friday to put some shots up and start talking with him about his plans and philosophy.

“One thing I really like about them is that they really work hard,” Marsh said. “Their practices were always super-intense and that was through Grasty’s leadership, so they’re intrinsically motivated and that’s what I love about it. They hit me up yesterday to get in the gym (Friday) and that, I thought, was fantastic.

“I’m just hoping they give me a chance, because change is difficult for everything. They’re so used to Grasty, and I think Charles and I have some similar things about us in the way we coach but there are also some major differences.”

Leaving the program he helped build was extremely difficult, but Marsh said he was able to do it because it was in such a strong place. It wasn’t just the basketball either, Marsh pointed to things like the yearly team tradition of helping a local family in need before the winter holiday season or the alumni that stayed connected once they were done playing.

Marsh called the 2010 District I title win over a great Cheltenham team a career highlight. He also mentioned some of the more recent battles with CB West in 2015 and the SOL rivalries the Ghosts developed with Upper Dublin and Plymouth Whitemarsh, who Abington beat for the 2017 District I title, as aspects he’ll miss.

Above all, what really sticks out is the players he was able to coach in 18 years with the girls’ program and how each team did things its own way.

“What I’m most proud of is the way we were able to stay successful for such a long period of time and always be in the mix of competing for a district and state championship,” Marsh said. “No matter what type of players we had come in, I felt like we as a program were able to adjust to what players we had.”

As he was weighing the decision, Marsh said he contacted Pennsbury girls’ coach Frank Sciolla, who had a long tenure coaching boys’ teams before taking over the Falcons girls’ program. Marsh’s teams, especially the past few seasons, played an up-tempo based on pressure defense and causing chaos, something Sciolla told Marsh would help him as he switched over to coaching on the boys’ side.

Marsh cautioned there’s still a lot of evaluation to be done with his new team but he did already tell his players the plan is to keep that high-tempo style.

“It is a different game but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Marsh said. “I mentioned it when I talked to Massey, I think that my style fits this team, we’ll just have to figure out the kinks and work it out.”

Marsh is very cognizant that some of his players on the girls’ team may have some mixed feelings about him changing roles and he understands where they might be coming from. He wants a familiar face to move into his old role, he wants the girls to keep winning and keep contending for titles.

“Abington girls’ basketball has been a huge part of my life for so long that it’s going to be very difficult,” Marsh said. “It had nothing to do with them but it was the fact that at this point in my life, a new challenge fell into my lap and I felt ‘let’s go for it.’ It’s a different job with a different challenge.”

Marsh doesn’t know what next season or beyond will look like, but he knows the part of it he can control won’t be the problem.

“I can certainly fail, but it’s not going to be from lack of effort,” Marsh said.