Tom Catalanotto may not be returning to the Archbishop Molloy bench next season.
Mere months after leading the Stanners to the New York Sate Federation Class A title, the third-year girls basketball coach’s contract was not renewed by the Briarwood school, sources told The Post late Wednesday night.
Catalanotto would not confirm or deny that he had been let go and athletic director Mike McCleary did not return a message left late Wednesday.
“It’s not what people think,” Catalanotto said. “I can’t talk about it right now.“
Last year was his finest at Molloy. Catalanotto, The Post’s All-Queens Coach of the Year, led a sophomore-laden team to the school’s third Federation crown in 10 years after a fifth-place finish in loaded CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Division I.
Catalanotto took over for Dom Cecala three years ago. Cecala, now the Christ the King junior varsity coach, was also not asked back as varsity coach after taking over an on interim basis and leading Molloy to its first Brooklyn/Queens crown and ending Christ the King’s 25-year reign atop the league.
After two uneven seasons, Catalanotto and Molloy appeared to have regained their footing with a talented core that fit both his personality and style, though Catalanotto did find himself in hot water on occasion.
Early last season, he got into an argument with Christ the King coach Bob Mackey in the post-game handshake line after Mackey took issue with Molloy pressing the Royals bench players in a blowout. In February, Catalanotto had a heated exchange with Bishop Kearney athletic director Anthony Troiano over the use of a pink and white basketball in conjunction with the league’s Coaches vs. Cancer month.
Catalanotto's job, however, seemed to be secure following the Stanners' 53-48 win over Peekskill at the Times Union Center in Albany in the Federation Class A final.
Molloy will head into this season with one of the most talented and experienced rosters in the city. Rising juniors Amani Tatum, Carolyn Gallagher and Alexa (Weazel) Dietrich helped lead the NYC Lady Bulldogs, coached by Catalanotto, to the tournament title at the prestigious GymRat Challenge in Albany.
They will return to Molloy next season, but Catalanotto may not be coming with them.
JOSEPH STASZEWSKI Joseph Staszewski is a graduate of St. Francis Prep, who earned his BS in journalism at St. John’s University. Before recently being hired by the New York Post, he freelanced for the TimesLedger Newspapers and worked at Newsday for more than two years. He was Newsday’s high-school boys’ soccer, indoor track and boys’ lacrosse beat writer. Staszewski has covered high-school and college sports for seven years and was one of the co-founders of FiveBoroSports.com, which covered local sports in New York City extensively on a daily basis. The former varsity basketball player at St. Francis Prep has coached hoops at the CYO, AAU and high-school level.
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