Sausville previously served as the head coach at Schenectady for 12 seasons and most recently was the head coach at Scotia-Glenville from 2017 until last season.
In July, Schenectady announced that John Miller would step down from his varsity boys role, opening the door for him to return to Sausville, where he has been a special education teacher in the district for 33 years and helped lead Mont Pleasant to a Big 10 title. Play day.
“When I got the opportunity to work at Schenectady, I felt the itch. I felt like if I wanted to go back, this was my opportunity,” Sausville said. “I had a classmate who called me and tried to persuade me.”
Section 2 boys basketball practice begins Monday. Schenectady’s season opener is scheduled for Dec. 3 at Lansingburgh.
Sausville began coaching at Schenectady in 1995 as an assistant coach before taking over as head varsity coach in the 1998-99 season. He led the Patriots through the 2009-10 season when he resigned. In 12 years as head coach, Sausville compiled a 198-75 record.
He led Schenectady to the Class A state championship during the 2000-01 season and served as an assistant to Gary DiNola during the Patriots’ run to the 1997-98 state title.
But Sausville doesn’t want his previous tenure as Schenectady coach to be defined solely by the previous two seasons.
“I’ve had success with kids in the past, not only in basketball but beyond,” he said. “Now some kids are lawyers, and some own franchises and businesses. “We’ve coached kids who have just grown up to become really good fathers and really good family men, and I’m really proud of that.”
He also talked about achieving small victories every day during practice and games.
“We have tremendous athletes, as we always have in Schenectady. It’s really exciting to teach them something and see them put it into practice,” Sausville said. “That’s what I really, really love about seeing a kid’s shot develop or realizing how he can defend better just by understanding angles.”
When he resigned from Schenectady after the 2010 season, Sausville joined the staff at Scotia-Glenville, where his son played.
“I wanted to watch my son play his freshman year at Schenectady last year. I was rushing across town to get there in the first half and I didn’t want to do that anymore,” he said. “I went to Scotia and (Jim) Giammattei, the (varsity boys basketball) coach, made me feel welcome and made me feel like I was a part of it. I got the opportunity to coach my son and be a part of something truly special.”
Sausville served as Giammattei’s assistant during Scotia-Glenville’s run to the Class A state title game in 2014.
“I had great mentors in Gary DiNola and Jim Giammattei who helped shape me into the coach I am today,” Sausville said. “I’m not a young person anymore, but I definitely want to see this happen and get it to a level that kids can take on.”
He said Kacy Daus will return to the varsity program as an assistant coach. John Randolph, who coached at Broadalbin-Perth the past two seasons, will serve as junior varsity coach and Lamar Larkin has been named freshman coach.
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