St. Luke’s Hires Bert DeSalvo as new Head Girls Basketball Coach

St. Luke’s is pleased to announce that it has hired Bert DeSalvo to fill position of Head Varsity Girls Basketball coach.  Bert has extensive experience coaching at the high school, and NCAA Division I, II, and III levels.  Most recently, Bert was the assistant women’s basketball coach and recruiting coordinator at Clarion University.  In addition, he has previously served as head coach and assistant director of athletics at Penn State Beaver, where he compiled a 99-26 record over four seasons and led the team to four straight USCAA National Tournaments.  Penn State Beaver was the national runner-up in 2011 following an undefeated regular season.  Bert has also served as the assistant women’s coach at MacMurray College, and spent a year as an assistant men’s coach at Division I University of Maryland – Eastern Shore.

At St. Luke’s, Bert plans to emphasize athleticism, creativity, and team synergy as he helps create a “comprehensive holistic program”.  Bert has a lot of experience running various camps and clinics, and the breadth of his basketball knowledge should help grow the the culture around the program.

Bert’s extensive college experience should also prove invaluable to those players who think about playing at the next level, especially because he is familiar with recruiting at all three NCAA divisions: “My contacts can hopefully help them as they pursue a career in college athletics.”

On the court, Bert says that he is comfortable teaching players to play at various paces and tempos, and hopes to speed the game up as the team gains more experience.  He also stresses creativity, and will work to build on what former coach Jen Pokorney had developed in the program, which reached the FAA and NEPSAC tournaments this past season.