Seaford boys basketball coach Ralph Rossetti to retire after season on own terms

Seaford boys basketball coach Ralph Rossetti is wrapping up a 43-year career at the end of the season, but he is not finishing his final season without more lasting memories.

Rossetti, 74, notched his 400th career win on Jan. 6 in a 66-34 decision at East Rockaway. Some of Rossetti’s former players, including Michael Harrington — the current Bellmore-Merrick District superintendent and Rossetti’s “best player ever” — were in attendance for the achievement.

“(East Rockaway coach) Paul Collins gave a speech at the end of the game and said such very nice things about me through the years, which was really nice,” Rossetti said. “ . . . The next game when we played Island Trees, they presented me with a ball, which was very nice. The athletic director gave a whole overview of me and gave my wife flowers. It was very nice, very touching.”

Rossetti earned win No. 401 against Island Trees on Jan. 10, but he can recall his first win against Clarke in 1981. Said Rossetti: “I think it took us 10 games before we won a game.”

Rossetti led Seaford to the Nassau Class B crown in 1999 — the only county championship in school history. He did not say the 1998-99 team was his best, though he did say winning the title was the best moment of his career.

Seaford is 9-7 this year and is led by Andrew Tudda, the top scorer among Nassau public school players at 25.3 points per game. Rossetti does not know if Seaford can make a run to the playoffs, but he is proud to say he spent four-plus decades at one school and is going out on his own terms.

“To stay in one school and be part of so many kids’ lives for my whole career,” Rossetti said, “and I think that’s what’s more special to me than anything else.”

Nelson leads Deer Park

Ethan Nelson is just a freshman playing his first season of varsity basketball. But it has been hard to tell with Deer Park’s starting point guard.

“He never looks like a freshman, if that makes sense,” coach John McCaffrey said. “The point guard position in high school basketball is basically like the quarterback of the football team. If you have a kid that goes in there and gets rattled, it rattles the whole group. He just plays with poise  . . . He’s got like a low heart rate.”

That calming presence has been especially beneficial because the Class AA Falcons returned just eight points from last season’s total team output.

The 6-foot Nelson, who graduated from a 20-0 JV, had helped this inexperienced group go 7-5 overall and 5-3 in Suffolk’s tough League III heading into Friday’s play.

He was leading Deer Park with 15.6 points and 3.9 assists per game. He was also averaging 3.6 rebounds and had hit 18 threes.

“We've kind of brought him up and basically given him the ball from day 1,” McCaffrey said. “He’s been rock solid for us in a lot of ways and is part of the reason that we’re in a good position to make the playoffs (for the 16th straight year).”

McCaffrey said Nelson’s work ethic is good as are his academics.

“It’s hard to project at this time exactly what level,” McCaffrey said, “but he’s on the path to be a college player.”