New boys basketball coach comes to Algonquin
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer
Northborough/Southborough - When Algonquin Regional Athletic Director Fran Whitten began looking for a boys varsity basketball coach, he got resumes and calls from all the usual suspects - current coaches, former coaches, teachers, interested parents.

Whitten also received an inquiry from a candidate with an employment background not often associated with men striding up and down high school sidelines in the middle of the winter - a Wall Street bond trader.

In the end, Whitten decided to put his stock in the bond trader, hiring Chris Foy, a Westborough resident, to be the next coach of the Tomahawks.

Foy replaces Marcus Watson, who resigned in the spring to take the boys varsity basketball coach position at St. Peter-Marian High School in Worcester. Foy takes over a team that was 3-17 last winter.

Foy, 48, has plenty of hardwood history, however, having played at Boston College (BC), captaining the 1980- 1981 Eagles team as a senior. He also served as a graduate assistant at BC, during the 1983-1984 season, to coach Gary Williams. Williams went on to coach Ohio State University and the University of Maryland programs. Williams is still at Maryland, having guided the Terrapins to the 2002 NCAA National Championship.

While assisting Williams, Foy earned a master's degree in finance, and left Chestnut Hill for Wall Street. He continued to work for a Wall Street firm when his family relocated and settled in West- borough.

The fast-paced world of stocks and bonds, and the general hustle and bustle of Wall Street left no time for basketball, something that bothered Foy for many years.

"The game of basketball has been so very good to me," Foy said. "It allowed me a chance to get a top-notch education at the place where I met my wife, Noel, to my profession and all the opportunities that has aff orded me. I can trace all I have back to the game of basketball."

Wanting to give back to the game, Foy began helping Westborough High coach Paul Bilodeau two years ago, and this spring coached the Central Mass. Shamrocks, an under-15 AAU team at the urging of Watson.

When Watson told Foy he was leaving for St. Peter- Marian, Foy submitted his resume.

"Chris is a really good fit for us," Whitten said. "I feel very comfortable with Chris leading the boys basketball program at Algonquin."

Some detractors have pointed to the fact that Foy has no high school head coach experience, a point summarily dismissed by Whitten.

"Chris knows the game inside and out. He has a passion for the game and wants to give back to the game that's given him so much," Whitten said. "He's a fine man with good character that knows how to teach the game and prepare young men for what's ahead of them in life. That's what's important to me and Algonquin Regional High School, not whether he ever coached high school basketball before."

To help with Foy's adjustment, Whitten said, Tom Bertonazzi will remain as junior varsity coach while freshman coach Mike Mocerino will move from freshman coach to assistant varsity coach.