 Jesse Agel |
|
|
|
Jesse Agel, well respected as a game tactician and recruiter,
begins his second season as head coach of the Bears. He was a
two-year assistant coach at Brown and a 17-year assistant coach at
Vermont, before being named the head coach at Brown in the summer
of 2008.
“Jesse brings a wealth of basketball knowledge and years of
experience to the head coaching position at Brown,” said
Brown athletic Director Michael Goldberger. “He has
demonstrated that he knows what it takes to be successful at this
level. Jesse views coaching to be about teaching, and that’s
something that Brown is all about and what I look for in all of our
head coaches.”
The 47-year-old Agel (pronounced A-gull) assisted coach Craig
Robinson at Brown for two years, helping the Bears register a
school-record 19 victories in 2007-2008, while gaining a berth in
the post-season College Basketball Invitational. The Bears finished
second in the Ivy standings with an 11-3 mark, winning 10 of their
last 11 regular season games.
“I embrace the opportunity to continue to work with a group
of extraordinary young men at such a prestigious university as
Brown,” said Agel. “Our goal will remain the same,
which is the relentless pursuit of the Ivy League Championship.
It’s been an honor to work in an outstanding athletic
department that has so many exceptional people and educators. I
want to thank formerall the former coaches I’ve worked with
along the way and all the great student-athletes I’m lucky to
work with.”
During his 17-year stint at Vermont, Agel was the architect of the
Catamount’s recent success on the basketball court. A 1984
graduate of Vermont, Agel was the associate head coach at Vermont
for eight years under head coach Tom Brennan.
Agel’s hard work and recruiting efforts were instrumental in
helping the Catamounts’ to the finest four-year run in the
105-year history of UVM basketball at the end of his UVM career. In
this stretch, Vermont won three consecutive America East titles
(2003, 2004, 2005), the school’s first conference
championships, and its first-ever regular season title in 2002 and
again in 2005.
The crowning achievement in Agel’s coaching career was a
60-57 victory over Big East Champion Syracuse in the first round of
the 2005 NCAA Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass.
A long-time student of the game, Agel began his coaching career as
a volunteer student assistant at Vermont in 1984-85. Prior to
returning to his alma mater, he was the head coach at Harwood Union
(Vt.) High School in Duxbury for two seasons. He guided the
Highlanders to the 1988 Vermont Division II State Championship with
a 21-2 record.
Agel’s successful recruiting at the collegiate ranks brought
in the core of regulars that helped complete the turnaround of the
Vermont program over the last decade, highlighted by four straight
20-win seasons. Since 1993, Vermont has had four players named
America East Rookie of the Year, including back-to-back winners in
T.J. Sorrentine ’04 and Taylor Coppenrath ’05. Both
went on to earn America East Player of the Year honors.
Agel was also the director of the Vermont Basketball Camp and has
worked as a regular at many of the top camps in the East.
Agel and his wife, Theresa, reside in Wakefield, Rhode Island,
with their two boys, Zachary and Nicholas.
What They Say About Head Coach Jesse
Agel……
“It was no secret that coach (Tom) Brennan had his own
M.O, what with his daily morning radio show and all, and that Agel
was indeed Vermont’s chief tactician.” – Bob
Ryan, Boston Globe, April 2, 2005
“Brennan would be the first to tell you that his long-time
assistant coach Jesse Agel does most of the planning and scouting
and technical coaching.” John Feinstein, Washington Post,
March 17, 2005
“Agel met Van Gundy while a student at Vermont. In his 17
years as an assistant at Vermont, Agel has evolved into the type of
coach that Stan and brother, Jeff, epitomize. He is the lead
recruiter, runs practice and does most of the in-game
strategy.” – Pete Thamel, New York Times, March 18,
2005
|
Lamar Barrett |
|
|
|
Lamar Barrett, a former assistant coach at Central Connecticut
State and the University of New Haven, and the former Director of
Hoop Group Elite, begins his second season as an assistant on the
Brown coaching staff.
Barrett has a myriad of coaching experience at the college and
high school levels. He worked for the Hoop Group and was Director
of Hoop Group Elite since 2006, the nation’s largest high
school exposure camp. He also assisted in running other Hoop Group
events.
Barrett worked as an assistant men’s basketball coach at
Central Connecticut from 2003-2005, and New Haven from 2005-2006.
He was also the head assistant coach at the Oxon Hill High School
in Oxon Hill, Maryland from 1997-2003, winning three Prince
George’s County 4A Championships and two Maryland State
Championships.
“Lamar Barrett brings a vast recruiting background and
involvement with many of the same type of student-athletes
we’ll look to recruit at Brown,” said Agel.
“He’s a great person, a great role model and
we’re thrilled that he’s on our staff.
A 1994 graduate of Elizabeth City State University with a BS in
Business Administration, Barrett was a two-year team captain for
the Vikings. He also played for a year at Longwood College.
Barrett, a native of Hampton Roads, Virginia who starred at
Franklin High School, has worked several camps throughout his
career, including the Five Star Basketball Camp, the Holy Cross
Basketball Camp, and Jim Boeheim’s Basketball Camp. He was
the co-founder/head coach of the Prince George’s County
Select AAU Team (1999-2003), and was a member of the Board of
Trustees of the Oxon Hill County Select AAU Team (1999-2003).
He and his wife, Casandra, reside in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
|
Kyle Cieplicki |
|
|
|
Kyle Cieplicki enters his second season as an assistant coach at
Brown following an outstanding four-year career at the University
of Vermont, where he was the team leader on and off the court and
was the first three-year captain in Catamount basketball
history.
“I’ve known Kyle and his family for many years, and
I’m extremely excited to give Kyle his initial opportunity on
what promises to be an exciting coaching career,” said Agel,
who recruited Cieplicki to play at Vermont. “Our players at
Brown will benefit from Kyle’s playing experience.”
Cieplicki was the UVM Athletic Department’s winner of the
Seaman’s Trophy given to the senior student-athlete who has
demonstrated a high level of athletic achievement and who earned
the respect and regard from his fellow student-athletes for
leadership, loyalty and service to the University.
He started 82 of 89 games over the last three years of his career,
and averaged 10.6 points per game as a senior. He dished out a
career best 88 assists as a junior, while connecting on 42 treys.
He played in two NCAA Playoff games as a freshman, making a key
contribution in the first round win over Syracuse.
A native of Shelbourne, Vermont, Cieplicki was a standout at Rice
Memorial High School before attending Vermont.
|
T.J. Sorrentine |
|
|
|
TJ Sorrentine, a Pawtucket, Rhode Island native and the leader
of the Vermont basketball team that upset Syracuse in the opening
round of the 2005 NCAA Championship, begins his second season as an
assistant basketball coach at Brown.
Sorrentine is reunited with Agel, who guided him as an associate
head coach at Vermont and recruited Sorrentine to the
Catamounts’ basketball program.
“I’ve known TJ as a great player, a tremendous
competitor and a leader that players gravitate towards and hoped to
emulate,” said Agel. “Now Brown basketball will be able
to utilize all of TJ’s championship attributes to help us
achieve the successes he has attained.”
A 2005 graduate of Vermont with a B.A. in sociology, Sorrentine
was a two-year captain, America East Rookie of the Year and Player
of the Year, a three-time First Team All-conference player and an
Honorable Mention All-American. He was also named to the America
East Academic Honor Roll in 2002 and 2003.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to coach, and having
an opportunity to coach at Brown and in my home state is a dream
come true,” said Sorrentine. I’ve been coming to the
Pizzitola Sports Center for the last 10 years, so it’s a home
away from home. Coach Agel and I have a great relationship and
I’ve always respected him as a coach and person. This is a
tremendous opportunity to learn from him as a coach.”
The point guard led Vermont to two NCAA Tournament appearances, in
2004 and 2005, and hit the game winning three-point basket that
crushed the Syracuse Orangemen in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester.
Sorrentine played professionally from 2005-2008, playing with Kk
Krka in Slovenia, FC Porto in Portugal, Branca Nouvo Trappani in
Italy, and the Florida Flame of the NBA Developmental League. He
also played in the NBA Summer League with the Miami Heat and
Milwaukee Bucks.
He also has extensive camp experience, and was a special guest
speaker at the New England Top 90 Invitational, while working as a
clinician at the Eastern Invitational Basketball Camp, the
University of Vermont Basketball Camp, the University of
Pennsylvania Basketball Camp, and the University of Rhode Island
Basketball Camp.
Sorrentine’s roots run deep through Rhode Island where he
was a standout at St. Raphael’s Academy in Pawtucket, earning
All-State honors, while playing for his father, Thomas. He was the
Rhode Island Player of the Year (USA Today, Gatorade) in 2000 after
leading St. Ray’s to back-to-back state titles. He was also
guided by Steve MacDonald, WHJJ Sportscaster, in his early years,
playing CYO basketball.
