1988 Harwood Union High School Division 2 Boys State Basketball Championship Story

Welcome to 1987! This is the story of a small Vermont basketball program that had only won one state championship (1975) since its inception in 1967 and has not won one since! Under the passionate leadership of a young coach from the Bronx named Jesse Agel, who poured his emotions out and wore his heart on his sleeve, the program experienced a remarkable turnaround. In just two years, they went from an 8-12 record in their first year to an impressive 21-2 on the way to a state championship! Through tough love and intensity, Coach Agel turned the Harwood basketball program into a winner. They played summer ball together, scouted teams, and ran teams into the ground. Coach Agel's dedication and passion turned tears into trophies as the players embraced his coaching style, delivered for him, and are still close to him to this day, 36 years later.

This story features interviews with players, including Coach Agel, and is dedicated to Charlie O’Brien. 

Thank you for listening. 

Dan Morse
Harwood Teacher, Sports Announcer and Broadcast Journalist

Jesse Agel joined Columbia in May 2016 after spending three seasons on Jim Engles' staff at NJIT. Agel, a New York City native and a graduate of Stuyvesant High School, was also the head coach of Brown University from 2008-12.

Agel works with the team’s frontcourt players, is responsible for scouting opponents and scheduling.

Under his guidance, forward Luke Petrasek ’17CC had his best season with Columbia in 2016-17, averaging 15.1 points on his way to earning second team All-Ivy League and third team All-Met honors.

At NJIT, Agel was a part of two CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament semifinal runs during back-to-back 20-win seasons. In his three years with the Highlanders, NJIT posted 54 victories and helped the team finish second in the regular season standings in its first season in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Agel was on Craig Robinson’s staff at Brown for two years before being elevated to head coach. In his time as an assistant, he helped the Bears register a school-record 19 victories in 2007-2008, while gaining a berth in the 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.

Brown saw 11 players earn All-Ivy League status in Agel’s tenure as assistant and head coach, including the 2011 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Sean McGonagill. Prior to his time at Brown, Agel spent 17 years at his alma mater, the University of Vermont. A 1984 graduate, Agel was the associate head coach at Vermont for eight years under head coach Tom Brennan. Agel was 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 that 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. In the 2005 NCAA Tournament, the Catamounts had the upset of the tournament, upsetting BIG EAST Champion Syracuse, 60-57, in the first round.

Under Agel, Vermont 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 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 (Vermont) High School in Duxbury for two seasons. He guided the Highlanders to the 1988 Vermont Division II State Championship with a 21-2 record.

SOURCE: https://gocolumbialions.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/jesse-agel/2883