DeSantis Brings College Experience to Sidelines for Hornets

The following questions were answered by North Reading girls basketball coach Hank DeSantis, who led the Hornets to the No. 13 seed in the North Division 3 postseason. Before coming to North Reading two years ago, DeSantis coached for Newtown North, Lasell College, and was an assistant at Northeastern University, Tufts University and Suffolk University. The Hornets play in Ipswich Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the opening round.

How would you describe yourself as a coach?

A competitor, emphasis on fundamentals with strong commitment to teaching life lessons and accountabilities.

What’s your favorite part of the what you do?

Working and teaching the game, sharing the passion I have for hopefully conveying some of the things I’ve gotten out of the game to them - the teamwork, relationships and successes on and off the court.

How long have you been with the program, and what brought you to North Reading?

This is my second year. Things that brought me here are that it’s a great school with good leadership and a strong travel program. I knew there was a really good crop of young players coming in when I took the job. We’re starting two freshmen and we have 10 freshmen and sophomores practicing with varsity. We have a good young nucleus that’ll hopefully be around for a long time. We’re hoping to win a lot of games and rebuild the program back to the success it had.

What’s the biggest difference between coaching at the college and high school levels?

You get a chance to work with kids when they’re at an impressionable stage, getting an opportunity to shape their values system. Kids in college come in with preconceived notion of things. The young kids are still learning the game and growing up. They’re still trying to figure out a lot of different things.

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