Mike D’Itria enjoyed a tremendous run of basketball achievement at St. Mary’s High School in Lynn. He was an assistant coach of a state championship boys team, and as a proud father, he and his wife, Tami, had the opportunity to support their daughter, Nicolette, and son, Anthony, as they helped the Spartans win state titles as outstanding individual contributors.
While Nicolette is now a starting guard at Salem State University and Anthony is competing in track at Colby College, Mr. D’Itria is beginning a new journey, having been named the head coach of the Pioneer Charter School of Science (Everett) boys basketball team.
Building a Program
D’Itria said he is excited to make his debut as the head coach at Pioneer Charter.
“I’ve always eventually wanted to have my own program,” said D’Itria, who was an assistant at St. Mary’s for seven seasons and four state title game appearances. “I’m very excited. We have a great group of kids.
Pioneer is an excellent school and I’m thankful to [Athletic Director] Phil Signoroni to be their head basketball coach.”
D’Itria said PCSS is a member of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. “We’ll be playing a lot of the charter schools and at the end of year, we’ll compete in the state charter school tournament (MCSAO) before the MIAA Tournament. Pioneer made the MIAA tournament for the first time last season.”
D’Itria said the No. 1 goal is to qualify for the MIAA playoffs. “That’s definitely the goal – to make the tournament and make a little noise,” he said.
Assistant Coaches from Revere
D’Itria has selected former high school standouts Marcus Brunson and Calvin Boudreau as assistant coaches on his staff.
“I coached Calvin growing up in Revere and Marcus for two years at St. Mary’s,” said D’Itria. “They’ve always had an interest in coaching, so I thought it would be great to have two younger coaches helping me out in this program.”
Looking Back at his Years at St. Mary’s
D’Itria reflected on his coaching days at St. Mary’s High School.
“It was a great seven years. I loved it there,” said D’Itria. “I learned a lot. David [Brown] really taught me how to run a program and how to be a successful program and just take care of the students, too. And there are not many athletic directors better than Jeff Newhall.”
David Brown, head coach at St. Mary’s, said that D’Itria was a tremendous asset to the Spartans’ program.
“Mike did an excellent job as an assistant coach at St. Mary’s,” said Brown. “I wish him the best of luck in his new position.”
St. Mary’s Athletic Director Jeff Newhall offered his congratulatory wishes.
“I congratulate Mike on becoming a head basketball coach,” said Newhall. “He was an outstanding member of our athletic staff at St. Mary’s, and he had a positive impact on the student-athletes at our school.”
A Star Football Player at Dom Savio High School
Interestingly, Mike D’Itria played football and some basketball at St. Dominic Savio High School in East Boston, graduating in 1994. “I realized when I was young, that I was more of a football player than a basketball player,” said D’Itria. “We played in the Super Bowl when I was a sophomore [offensive tackle and defensive end]. I played football for Coach Bill Maradei for three years and Coach Gavin Monagle for one year. Bill Maradei was tough on you, but at the end of the day he made you a better player. You knew it was genuine that he really cared about you, so you could deal with it.”
Following high school, D’Itria attended Northeastern University, where he enrolled in the pharmacy program and had a co-op position at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is currently a pharmacist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he has been employed for 27 years.
This week Mike D’Itria began his tenure as a head basketball coach, realizing a long-held dream.