Falcon in Florida
Brownsville grad Linza cites WPIAL title run as key to coaching success
Angelo Linza may be part of a championship high school basketball program in Florida but he hasn无毛视频檛 forgotten what got him there and where he came from.
Linza, a Brownsville graduate, was a member of the Falcons无毛视频� WPIAL Class AAA championship team of 2001. He has served as an assistant coach at Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens since 2017 and has been a part of six district titles, two state finals and one state championship while there.
Linza is part of head coach Fred Ross无毛视频檚 team. Ross has been coaching for 34 years and led Dwyer to four state championships, eight regional championships and 15 district championships. Ross, who played at Stetson, is in the Palm Beach County 无毛视频 Hall of Fame and the Panthers无毛视频� gymnasium, Fred Ross Court, is named after him.
无毛视频淐oach Ross has over 900 wins,无毛视频� Linza who is part of Ross无毛视频檚 large coaching staff. 无毛视频淚 do whatever Coach needs. We all play a role for him,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淐oach prides himself on defense.
无毛视频淚 coached JVs for three years, then I moved up. I do a lot of the film breakdown. I keep the stats during the game, shot chart, turnovers, looking for trends and everything.无毛视频�
Ross has had an impact on Linza无毛视频檚 life on the court and off.
无毛视频淐oach Ross helped me tremendously,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 like a father figure to me. My parents divorced when I was 15-16. He无毛视频檚 like my second father. He teaches me a lot about basketball but he teaches me a lot about life, too.
无毛视频淗e无毛视频檚 pretty intimidating when you first get to know him. I was scared to death of him at first. I can无毛视频檛 thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to coach on his staff. I mean the guy无毛视频檚 a legend, one of the greatest high school coaches of all time, and I get a chance to work with him.无毛视频�
The Panthers have been highly successful during Linza无毛视频檚 time with the team. They were district champions and reached the regional semifinals in 2020 and during the COVID season of 2021 they won the regional title and lost in the state final. Dwyer made the regional final the next year then came the banner season of 2022-23 when the Panthers won the district, regional and state championships. The next season Dwyer won another district title and reached the regional final.
无毛视频淲e were ranked nationally last year,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淭he year before we won the state title and were ranked around 10th in the county.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e been blessed. I tell people I无毛视频檓 just a kid from Brownsville. I wasn无毛视频檛 a superstar, I wasn无毛视频檛 a 1,000-point scorer on that Brownsville team but now I无毛视频檓 doing something I love and being successful at it. If you look at it. I was part of a WPIAL championship at Brownsville. They put us in the Fayette County Hall of Fame. Then I won six district championships and a state title coaching in Florida. I无毛视频檝e had a pretty good run in basketball.
无毛视频淐oach Ross无毛视频檚 style isn无毛视频檛 complicated. We talk basketball a lot. He teaches the game so simple. AAU has ruined the game of basketball to me personally. You无毛视频檙e trying to teach all this higher end stuff when really you无毛视频檝e got to make sure you learn the fundamentals of the game and have that down pat first. That无毛视频檚 what he stresses and teaches.无毛视频�
The 42-year-old Linza and his wife Addy have two daughters, Mariah and Hannah.
无毛视频淢y wife has been supportive of my involvement in basketball. Sometimes she tells me I like basketball more than her,无毛视频� Linza said with a laugh. 无毛视频淏ut she knows the passion I have for it and how much I love it.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 pretty laid back most of the time. I无毛视频檓 not a rah-rah kind of screaming guy but there are times when during a timeout 无毛视频� Coach will let the assistants talk first 无毛视频� and I will be pretty intense about what we无毛视频檙e doing wrong or what we need to work on. I like to coach individually. I无毛视频檓 big on pulling a kid aside and making sure he understands what we want him to do.无毛视频�
Linza has thick skin which he attributes to his upbringing.
无毛视频淚 get my toughness and I get my attitude from my mom Lauren,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淪he无毛视频檚 a tough cookie. I probably get part of my coaching style from my mom. My mom was loud. I can be loud. She always supported me. My dad was a basketball player and friends with the Nesser family and coached me when I was first starting out.无毛视频�
Linza recalled his days growing up and playing basketball in Brownsville and the Falcons无毛视频� improbable run to the WPIAL title in 2001 with great fondness. Although he wasn无毛视频檛 a starter on the championship team he credited that experience for much of his success as a coach.
Mark Gates, Bob Turcic, Derrick Clements and Josh Bruschi were led by senior star George Lemon and coached by Pete Logan.
无毛视频淭hat team started to form when we were young, We all played together from the time we were like in fourth or fifth grade,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淭hat team and that group spurred my coaching career.无毛视频�
Linza recalled team unity as a key to success.
无毛视频淲e played everywhere together. We all played pick-up games throughout the summers,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 one of the reasons that team was so good.无毛视频�
Linza lauded Larry Cash and brothers Paul Hough and Joe Hough as coaches who influenced him greatly at Brownsville.
无毛视频淧aul and Joe Hough deserve a lot of credit,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淲e played throughout our younger years under them. They taught me a lot about the game of basketball and I无毛视频檓 always grateful for the time I spent with them. They were about culture and teaching you to play as a team. We learned that early on from them.
无毛视频淎nother guy I think was the first one to give us that attitude that we could win a lot, is Larry Cash. His practices when we were in eighth grade were the hardest I have had as a player. I think he created that toughness, that grit to want to take the heart out of your opponent. Larry pressed until the buzzer went off. There was no backing off.无毛视频�
Then there was Lemon, the star with the heart of a champion.
无毛视频淕eorge Lemon doesn无毛视频檛 get enough credit for what we accomplished, for what he did for all of us,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淗e made us all tough and thick-skinned. If George wanted to average 40 a game he could无毛视频檝e done that although we wouldn无毛视频檛 have won as much. But he bought into the team aspect and got the best of our abilities out of us. We had an attitude about us and a lot of that was from George. We weren无毛视频檛 afraid of anybody. We didn无毛视频檛 care who we played.
无毛视频淕eorge would say we无毛视频檙e not doing this good enough, we didn无毛视频檛 do this right, we didn无毛视频檛 do that right. I hated him sometimes but in hindsight, that experience with George helped build me to where I am now as a coach. That molded me to have a chip on my shoulder.
无毛视频淚 give credit for the way I teach and the way I coach to my upbringing in Brownsville and to that team.无毛视频�
The Falcons knocked off the top three seeds during their run to the district title, stunning heavily favored No. 1 Blackhawk, coached by the legendary John Miller and led by Ohio State recruit Brandon Fuss-Cheatham, 66-63 in the final after rallying from a late seven-point deficit.
After graduating from Brownsville, Linza went to Indiana University of Pa. and the first bricks were put down for his coaching career.
无毛视频淚 went to IUP and met a good friend, Eddie Peterson, who was a star at Sto-Rox and graduated the same year as me,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淗e was a great player at IUP and befriended me when I was there as a freshman, so I got to workout and practice with the team a lot. I was around the team all the time. I got to see how a college program works.无毛视频�
Uniontown head coach Rob Kezmarsky gave Linza his first shot at being a member of a basketball coaching staff.
无毛视频淚 came home from college in 2005 and I got on with Rob Kezmarsky in 2006,无毛视频� Linza recalled. 无毛视频淩ob gave me my first opportunity. I was helping out Uniontown, doing the stats for them. Then (Uniontown assistant coach) Warare (Gladman) took over Albert Gallatin for awhile, and he gave me the opportunity to help coach his middle school team with Kenny Musko at Albert Gallatin South. I was around helping out with Brownsville a bit at that time, too.无毛视频�
Linza left the area in 2009.
无毛视频淚 moved to Florida and I started training some guys,无毛视频� Linza said. 无毛视频淩eally, I无毛视频檝e had a chance to see basketball at all three levels. I got to see it at the high school level as a player, being involved in it, and on the other side as a coach. I got to see how a college program works at IUP. Then when I moved to Florida I met a guy by the name of Leemire Goldwire, a Dwyer grad who played professionally. I got to work out with him sometimes and see how he approached it. So I无毛视频檝e seen how a pro works, how a college team works and how a high school team works.
无毛视频淚 got to work out with a lot of pros in the area and I was training a lot of overseas guys. Then a friend of a friend hooked me up with Coach Ross in 2017 and I无毛视频檝e been there ever since.无毛视频�
Dwyer has produced some significant professional athletes over the years, as Linza pointed out.
无毛视频淲e had two players go D-I off the state championship team, to Cleveland State and FIU,无毛视频� Linza pointed out. 无毛视频淚n fact, seven guys off that team went on to play college basketball. It无毛视频檚 always fulfilling to see your players get to the next level.
无毛视频淛acoby Brissett, the NFL quarterback, played under Coach Ross. Alonzo Gee is another one, he went to Alabama and played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And Goldwire went to the University of Charlotte and also played in the NBA, just to name a few.无毛视频�
Linza has a good job, 无毛视频淚 work for Clear which is the fast lane at PBI (Palm Beach International) Airport,无毛视频� but spends most of his free time focusing on basketball.
Asked if he would consider a head coaching job somewhere at some point, Linza said, 无毛视频淚 wouldn无毛视频檛 do anything as far as seeking a head coaching job until Coach Ross retires. He无毛视频檚 the one that gave me my opportunity.
无毛视频淚 would love to be on a college staff maybe someday. I无毛视频檝e had some other coaching offers. We无毛视频檒l see what the future holds.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 happy with the way things have turned out. Not bad for just a small town kid who wasn无毛视频檛 really a basketball star.无毛视频�