Dunbar turns to longtime travel team coach to lead its boys basketball program
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Quattrocchi replaces George Baker, who resigned after a 3-27 season in 2024
- Program seeks stability after multiple coaching changes since Scott Chalk retired in 2021
Seeking stability in the wake of having to hire its fourth new boys basketball coach in five years, Paul Laurence Dunbar turned to a first-time high school head coach, but also someone who is no stranger to the game.
Steve Quattrocchi, founder of the Griffin Elite AAU program out of Erlanger in 2019 and a former Georgetown College assistant coach who has also been on staff at several high schools over the years, was announced as Dunbar’s new head coach on the school’s social media channels Friday.
“I’m very excited to hit the ground running,” Quattrocchi told the Herald-Leader ahead of his first meeting with the team Saturday afternoon. He’d scheduled two practices to get ready for the Bulldogs’ first summer league game Monday. “I feel like I’m hitting the ground sprinting since June basketball has already been going on, but I’m ready to get going, play a little catch up and see who shows up today.”
The new coach had a good turnout for his 1 p.m. meet-and-greet and practice Saturday as he introduced himself to the team and their families.
Rising junior Asher Horn, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer last season with 12.1 points per game, had done some homework on the new hire ahead of the introduction.
“I’ve followed (Griffin Elite) for a while, but I did a lot more research over the past couple of days,” Horn said. “I’ve seen a lot of players he’s coached go on to college and I like how they play — a lot of fast pace, a lot of shooting.”
Quattrochi (pronounced kuh-tro-key) remains Griffin Elite’s top age group coach on the Under Armour circuit and his rosters have included Lexington Catholic’s 2021 Mr. Basketball Ben Johnson (Bellarmine), Great Crossing’s Vince Dawson (Morehead State), Owen County’s Teagan Moore (Western Kentucky) and Harlan County’s Maddox Huff (East Tennessee State), among others.
“I’ve known Steve for several years and I think there’s a big difference between coaching AAU and coaching high school basketball. The ratio of games to practices is almost reversed between the two,” Dunbar athletic director Damon Kelley said. “But what impressed us in his two interviews was that he knows that and if you watch his AAU teams play, they’re very well coached. They share the basketball. … He has a basketball mind. He watches it. He lives it. He breathes it. And I think he’s ready to make this transition.”
George Baker, one of Dunbar’s all-time greatest players, resigned May 13 after one season as coach, citing personal concerns. Baker missed a number of games during the season due to health issues as the Bulldogs went 3-27 and winless in 43rd District play with a young roster mostly led by juniors and sophomores.
The Dunbar job has been in flux since the retirement of Scott Chalk in 2021. Chalk led Dunbar to the 2016 11th Region title and Boys’ Sweet 16 state championship and was 151-114 in nine seasons at the S.T. Roach Sports Center.
Current Frederick Douglass coach Murray Garvin was Chalk’s immediate successor but stepped down after two seasons. Former Model coach John Morgensen lasted one season after that. Dunbar hasn’t had a winning record since going 14-13 in Murray’s first year.
Quattrocchi aims to get Dunbar back on track.
“I just saw it as a tremendous opportunity because of the facilities, the tradition … there’s just a lot of positives,” he said. “There’s a lot of good reasons to be at Dunbar and I think it can be what it was. It’s just had some turmoil, but we’re ready to get it turned around.”
Dunbar’s coaching carousel
Paul Laurence Dunbar boys basketball coaches since Scott Chalk’s retirement. Chalk went 151-114 in nine seasons with state and region titles in 2016 and three 43rd District titles.
2021-2023: Murray Garvin — 24-34 in two seasons.
2023-2024: John Morgerson — 11-20 in one season.
2024-2025: George Baker — 3-27 in one season.
