April 7, 2011

RivalsHigh
It appears that just one week after a split with previous head basketball coach Kevin Sutton, Montverde (Fla.) Montverde Academy has found its new man.

In New Jersey.

According to a report in the New York Daily News late Thursday afternoon, Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick head coach Kevin Boyle will be the next coach at the Florida private school.

"It's a beautiful, beautiful campus," Boyle told the paper. "Montverde Academy strives to be the best in whatever it does and that's the same for the basketball program. I'm looking forward to the challenge but at the same time, leaving St. Patrick with a heavy heart. I've made a lot of good friends along the way."

St. Patrick thanked Boyle for his more than two decades service at the school, and quickly elevated longtime junior varsity head coach Christopher Chavannes to the top job.

St. Patrick finished the season with a 26-1 record and ranked No. 4 in the RivalsHigh 100, with its lone loss being a 62-45 defeat at the hands of eventual national champion and in-state rival Jersey City (N.J.) St. Anthony on March 9.

Montverde, meanwhile, suffered a tough loss at the end of the season, finishing with a 22-4 record and sliding to No. 48 in the nation.

The Daily News reported that Boyle interviewed with Montverde on Monday and informed his St. Patrick team of the decision on Thursday afternoon.

"He just said that he was doing it for the benefit of him and his family," St. Patrick senior Derrick Gordon told the Star-Ledger. "A lot of people were mad. A lot of the underclassmen were upset. A lot of people were shocked."

Boyle spent 23 years as the coach at St. Patrick, winning five state Tournament of Champions titles in the process.

During the 2009-10 season, Boyle admitted to being in attendance during an out-of-season workout session. That led to his team's ban from state postseason play. At the time, St. Patrick was the top-ranked team in the state.

Sutton had been the head coach at Montverde for eight seasons before parting ways with the school on March 31.

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