City of Basketball Love

By David Comer
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This offseason has been a typical one in the local high school basketball scene with several coaching changes. Here, we highlight two of the new head boys’ basketball coaches who will be looking to continue the recent successes at the programs they are taking over - Jack Diggory at Garnet Valley and Brendan Stanton at Souderton.

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Diggory returns to alma mater aiming to keep Jaguars in the hunt

Diggory, a 2015 graduate of Garnet Valley, where he captained both the football and basketball teams as a senior, is tasked with carrying on the winning tradition that Mike Brown built over the last 13 years.

Diggory has enjoyed his first month on the job.

“It’s been great,” said the 28-year-old Diggory, who played safety in football and guard/forward in basketball during his playing days for the Jaguars. “We’ve hit the ground running. Coach Brown developed such a good foundation for the program. I’m not trying to come in and change everything. I’m going to take what he did and put my own spin on it. He set such a good foundation. It would be crazy of me to change that.”

Diggory, who both played for and coached with Brown, was a player during Brown’s first three seasons at Garnet Valley and then the JV coach during Brown’s final two seasons at the helm.

Prior to Brown’s arrival, the Jaguars endured three consecutive one-win seasons. Brown built a winner, compiling a 206-127 record with 10 District 1 and five state playoff appearances. The Jaguars won the 2021 Central League title and reached the 2024 District 1 6A championship game. This past season, Garnet Valley went 19-8 and lost in the first round of the state playoffs to eventual state champion Father Judge. 

“I want to keep that going,” Diggory said. “I have the motivation of pride to keep them on the map.”

Diggory said that Brown has offered him advice as he begins his first job as a varsity head coach.

“He told me to make it my own and don’t be afraid to change things up and make it my own - be confident in my decisions,” Diggory said. “He’s said he’s always there to give me advice.”

Diggory said that in June his team will be participating in the Delco Hoops Spring Showcase, Philly Live and the Summertime Shootout in Wilmington, Del. He is also holding open gyms. And one of his twists on the program, he said, will be to implement a new strength and conditioning program.

“I want to give the kids an opportunity to lift and work out and get bigger and stronger,” Diggory said.

Diggory will be faced with trying to replace Jake Sniras, who finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,787 points and who will be continuing his basketball career at Wilkes University next season.

The Jaguars will have a solid piece returning in Grayson Golek, who earned honorable mention All-Central League honors as a sophomore.

“We have a lot of really solid young guys,” Diggory said.

Brown said that when he coached Diggory he did not envision his former player becoming a future head coach.

“I didn’t see that - in part because he was not a year-round basketball player,” he said. “As a player, he was very athletic and intelligent. He had a good demeanor and was a solid player.”

Brown has also found Diggory to be a solid coach.

“His demeanor is really, really impressive,” Brown said. “People in the stands can look at him and not know if they are up 20, down 20 or tied. He’s no-nonsense. He’s business-like. He’s also very intelligent.

“Any coach who takes over for another coach should be themselves,” Brown added. “Don’t try to be the person you’re following. I think they’ll do well. I think he’ll do well.”

Diggory earned his undergraduate and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Temple and currently works in the pharmaceutical research and development industry. He lives in North Wilmington, Del., about a 10-minute drive from Garnet Valley.

“Coaching is something I’m very passionate about,” Diggory said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m super excited.”

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Stanton has big hopes for Big Red

At the end of February, Stanton had just completed his second year as an assistant coach at Arcadia University and was faced with a decision - either try to climb the ladder as a college coach or return to the high school ranks where he enjoyed considerable success during his five seasons at Pope John Paul II. The 34-year-old Stanton decided on the latter.

In April, Stanton was named the head coach at Souderton, where he replaces Okoteh Sackitey, who stepped down at the end of the 2024-25 season after four seasons. 

“When the Souderton job opened up, the timing was right,” Stanton said. “It seemed like a perfect fit.”

Stanton is not related to Souderton athletic director and all-time Ursinus College great Dennis Stanton, although he said that he and Dennis have known each other since he was a teenager and that he has worked as a coach at the basketball camps that Dennis runs.

Stanton is in his ninth year as a guidance counselor in the Souderton Area School District. He is currently working at Indian Crest Middle School, only about three miles from the high school, and about a 30-minute drive from his home in Conshohocken. For Stanton, this will be a welcome change from his days as the head coach at PJP from 2018-19 to 2022-23, when he lived in Manayunk, worked in Souderton and coached at PJP in Royersford. 

“At the time,” said the 34-year-old Stanton who grew up in Harleysville, “I just thought that was what you do.”

Despite all of the logistical issues getting from place to place to place each day, Stanton was highly successful at PJP. His teams won one Pioneer Athletic Conference championship, made three appearances in the PAC title game, earned four PAC Frontier Division crowns, captured two District 1 4A district championships and reached the state semifinals once.

“To be honest, I was a successful coach on paper, but I kind of cringe when I think back at how I did some things,” Stanton said. “I’ve learned from my experiences since then.”

Stanton, a 2009 Lansdale Catholic and a 2013 Gwynedd Mercy University graduate, who played basketball at both schools, enjoyed his two years at Arcadia.

“I had a really great experience there,” he said. “I learned from those guys how to run a practice and not to be afraid to give too much detail - to explain the ‘why’ about things.”

Stanton will be missed at Arcadia.

“Brendan made the whole program better,” Arcadia coach Adam Van Zelst said. “He’s very analytical, and he’s really sharp. He has a really good mind.”

Interestingly, when Stanton was in high school and went on a visit to Albright College, he spent the majority of his time with the Van Zelst brothers, Adam and Ryan, who played for the school at the time. Stanton and the Van Zelsts stayed in touch through the years, and Stanton eventually landed on Adam’s coaching staff at Arcadia.

Stanton has also served as an assistant coach at several other schools, including Perkiomen Valley, The Hill School and Souderton.

“I think Souderton is lucky to have him,” Van Zelst said. “It’s a home run of a hire. I think he’ll do a great job.”

Souderton is coming off a highly successful season and will return two of its top players from that team. The Big Red finished 17-8, winning the Suburban One League Colonial Division title - their first outright league championship since the 2009-10 season.

“I would like to build off last year’s success,” Stanton said. “I want to build something that is sustainable.”

Souderton returns SOL Colonial Division Player of the Year in Chanse Salone and second-team All-SOL Colonial Division selection Nate Rusike. 

“It obviously helps a ton to have them back,” Stanton said.

Stanton has a philosophy that high school basketball is “super fun,” so by getting to the playoffs and winning his players will have the opportunity to play more games than if the season does not extend past the end of the regular season.

As for his philosophy, Stanton said he likes to have five players on the court who can pass, shoot, dribble, play fast, and play off two feet.

“Move the ball and share the ball,” he said.

Stanton, who earned his master’s degree in school counseling from Gwynedd Mercy, where both of his parents were coaches - his mother coached field hockey and his father coached soccer - said he is holding open gyms and getting the varsity and JV players involved in summer leagues.

Stanton also said that Sackitey, a social studies teacher at Souderton, has helped with the transition.

“I want to build off what he did,” Stanton said. “It’s important for me to talk to him.”

Stanton, who has played for several successful coaches, including Tom Kehoe and Bernie Fitzgerald at Lansdale Catholic and John Baron at Gwynedd Mercy, has a wealth of experience to draw upon.

“I’ve pulled bits and pieces from a lot of guys,” he said. “I’ve learned a ton of stuff. I want to be a good communicator, have high standards and be approachable.”