Tony Bergeron Wins 400th Game

Woodstock Academy Gold Advances to 24-0

Generally when it comes to coaches achieving milestone wins in the hundreds, the story is about the career of the coach, the on-court accomplishments and longevity. This isn’t one of those stories.

Tony Bergeron took an atypical path to a 400-163 win-loss record and establishing himself as one of the best coaches in the country.

But the very first thing you have to understand about Bergeron is that coaching for him is not about the wins…it’s about the kids. And it’s always been that way.

I first met Tony when he the head coach at MacDuffie School. He had coached in less than 100 games at that time.

Later that summer, he would capture Howard Garfinkel’s eye with his defensive station. Most coaches were quiet, and unassuming when they debuted at Five-Star, nervous that they would receive Garf’s ire but not Bergeron. Bergeron was cocky and confident and he had the talent to back it up. I was able to convince him to draft a rising junior from Towson Catholic, named Carmelo Anthony.

Tony got his edge growing up in Springfield, Mass where he attended Springfield Christian. To say Bergeron was in-and-out of trouble would be putting it kind. His high school coach Jim Cromwell worked hard to get Tony to navigate a path to college which he did attending Kings College in Briarcliff Manor to play both baseball and basketball.

Bergeron, the basketball player, would go head-to-head with the best of Springfield including former NBA standout Travis Best.

Shortly after college was a coaching opportunity as the junior varsity baseball and then basketball coach at Archbishop Stepinac. From there he was able to go back home to Springfield and resurrect the MacDuffie program in the now-defunct NEPAC “E” division. Bergeron led MacDuffie to a 24-6 2001 record and the Class E championship.

Bergeron’s stay at MacDuffie ended when the administration felt that basketball was receiving too much attention.

That was a consistent theme for him, he had to battle his way through every situation and sometimes it was self-inflicted. It took that chip-on-his-shoulder to keep fighting for the next opportunity, to keep fighting for the recognition of his program and most of all his players.

He took on a full-time role with Five-Star Basketball Camp, first as Recruiting Coordinator and then as Program Director. He defined Five-Star’s station curriculum and taught thousands of kids each summer. There were dozens that he personally got into college, many of which had no chance without him.

Bergeron despite being a great teacher of the game, struggled to get respect from the coaching fraternity. He left MacDuffie for Wings Academy in the Bronx. Principal Wayne Cox gave Tony the opportunity to run the program. Cox gave Tony the administrative support to transform Wings Academy into a basketball powerhouse in the PSAL.

Bergeron’s influence was felt beyond the court and the win’s and losses but with academic success and most of all college opportunities. Garfield “Ricky” Johns went to Utah, Kidani Brutus and Andre Tarver went to Manhattan College, Rah Jenkins went to Florida A&M, Jacque Rivera went to Elms… to name a few. Bergeron would lead Wings to the PSAL Final Four.

Bergeron’s personality was strong enough to carry most of his players through graduation and college, navigating them through crisis along the way. Challenging the streets to leave his kids alone.

With Bergeron, it wasn’t just about his players. He regularly helped players throughout the city getting them opportunities. He spoke to Bob Knight at Texas Tech to give Charles Burgess an opportunity. Whether the players were at Tilden or Monroe, played for Bingo or Abyssinian Baptist Church, Bergeron looked out for them.

When American Christian came calling after Tyreke Evans freshman year, Bergeron saw the opportunity to move his family to Pennsylvania.

Secretly, he must of felt that at American Christian, coaching great players, Bergeron would receive his due as a coach.

American Christian was an all-in proposition. Bergeron had to build the entire foundation academically and basketball.

It was the other reality of prep school basketball, it was on Bergeron to make sure the kids were fed, the heat was on, and that no one got shot.

Funding for American Christian dried up and there was nothing more Bergeron could do. He had hoped to get an opportunity to coach Division One but coaches came up with excuse after excuse to not hire him. Whether it was the black trenchcoat that he wore while coaching, or that he would challenge them instead of being a yes man, when the time came, no college was willing to add him to their coaching staff.

He would return to Springfield for an opportunity at East Longmeadow High School. Bergeron was able to lead the program to the state semifinals and while he was not dealing with city kids he was trying to save, he maximized the talent in the program before parting ways for Commonwealth.

At Commonwealth, Bergeron built the framework for the school and the basketball program going through the NCAA clearinghouse making sure the academics were where they needed to be.

The ability to have a place for inner-city kids to retreat to and get an education was a dream for Bergeron. It was similar to American Christian but it had it’s own dorms/houses and didn’t have the same microscope with a McDonald’s All American. In some ways, I had the feeling that it meant more to him, because this was home, in Springfield.

Last year when Woodstock Academy called, it was an opportunity that Bergeron could not pass up. Woodstock founded in 1801, could go toe-to-toe with the historic NEPSAC powers. Now, Bergeron could compete on recruits with Brewster Academy, Northfield Mount Hermon or Oak Hill and Montverde.

The results have been impressive. The Centaurs have 8 players signed to play Division One basketball next year with more to sign in the Spring. Colleges by the hundreds are driving thirty minutes in the woods to find the school.

For Tony Bergeron the day has finally come where he can be overlooked no more. It’s not fair to say that at 400 wins that he’s arrived. Twenty years ago Bergeron would have told every coach out there that he forgot more basketball than they ever knew.

Today is about something more. It’s about every Joshua Spivey or Rah Benson or Devyn Erwin out there, who everyone turned their back on that Bergeron fought to help time and time again, and while they may not have all made it, he’s still there trying to help.