Sean Casey, Girls Basketball Head Coach
Sean Casey (Center) celebrates 300 career coaching victories
Sean Casey patrolled the basketball sidelines for 17 years with incredible energy and success. The Casey recipe of unselfish offense and game-changing defensive instincts, combined with the ability to maximize each player’s basketball skills, helped guide the Falcons to several national rankings and sent 17 student-athletes to Division I programs.
During his tenure, Casey mentored three McDonald’s High School All-Americans: Bridgette Mitchell ’06 (Duke), Crystal Goring ’05 (Richmond) and Haley Peters ’10 (Duke). Hall of Fame member Lauren Kokotajlo Grace ’99 put Peddie basketball on the map when she hit an instantly legendary shot, a miraculous buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the win against tournament favorite Mount St. Dominic in the 1997 Prep A title game. The magic continued through Casey’s final campaign in 2010 as Peddie defeated Blair Academy, 48-40, to notch its 14th consecutive Prep A State championship. Adding to his worksheet of achievements, Casey steered the Falcon juggernaut to 12 straight Mid-Atlantic Prep League crowns with a spotless 77-0 mark dating back to the beginning of the conference in 1998-99. Never shying away from playing the best competition on a consistent basis, Casey ended the 2009-10 season at 25-2 to celebrate his third-straight 20-win season and ninth overall, giving the coach a final career record of 329-89 (.787). His crowning achievement was winning the 2010 ESPN Rise Tournament.
The wins and championships are permanently etched in the record books, but transcending his coaching brilliance was his unwavering commitment to his players’ development. Longtime assistant coach Erik Gustavson said, “Sean knows how to make people, especially his players, feel concerned, valued and appreciated. This reality helped give his teams a special feel. The players recognized that he cared deeply about them as people. He was tough-minded, but also loving and generous with a sense of humor and the understanding that it’s necessary at times to be playful and have fun. Even more important, perhaps, than the lessons on the court, Sean nurtured and helped his players be successful in academic and social areas as well.”
His wife Jill, serving as assistant coach, helped build the enduring culture of the girls basketball program. Coach Casey cemented his legacy when he was selected as the 2010 Naismith National High School Coach of the Year.