Brian Vecchio succeeds his dad as Manitou Springs boys basketball coach
The head boys basketball coaching job at Manitou Springs is staying in the family. Brian Vecchio has been tabbed as the new coach, taking the job his father, Ken, held for 32 years.
The elder Vecchio announced his retirement earlier this year.
Brian has sat beside his father on the bench for the previous 13 season. He has assumed a major role on the coaching staff, often scouting opponents and preparing the team from and X’s and O’s standpoint. He says not much will change from what the Mustangs have done on the court in previous years.
“It will be pretty similar in terms of philosophy and how we play,” Vecchio said. “We’re going to get up and down the floor and the main thing is we’re going to guard on the defensive end and make it tough for teams to score on us.”
Prior to his role as an assistant coach at Manitou, Vecchio played collegiately at Colorado State University-Pueblo where he finished his career second all-time in 3-pointers made for the ThunderWolves.
His 260 triples is just four shy of the school record. Vecchio played his high school basketball at Manitou under his dad. He admits there might be some pressure in following in the footsteps of Ken, but is hopeful that the now-retired Vecchio will help out with the team in some capacity.
“Hopefully he’s going to be right there next to me,” Brian said. “It’s something we’ve talked about so hopefully he’ll be there just like he has the last 13 years.”
The Mustangs went 13-10 in 2017-18 and lose just two seniors heading into next year. One of them, however, is Cole Sienknecht who finished his career No. 3 on the school’s all-time scoring list.
The last person he overtook on the list is the Mustangs’ new head coach.
