With 1 minute, 50 seconds to go in the Amherst Regional boys basketball team’s season finale against rival Northampton, Hurricanes coach Jim Matuszko called timeout with his team trailing by 28 points.
Blue Devils coach Rey Harp cleared his bench with a platoon substitution. Instead of clearing his bench, Matuszko kept the same lineup in the game and installed an aggressive press that forced three turnovers, leading to nine points.
Matuszko wasn’t going to end the season or his career without a final push. Matuszko, 64, was coaching the final game in his 35-year career, the last 21 of which came from the Amherst varsity sideline.
Northampton won 85-64 and will continue its season in the playoffs, while Amherst’s season and Matuszko’s final campaign ended at 3-17.
The veteran coach could have walked away after guiding the Hurricanes to the Western Massachusetts Division 1 Tournament semifinals last year. Prior to that season, Amherst was a three-time sectional runner-up from 2015-17. But Matuszko wanted to be there this season for the players.
“Last year was gonna be my final year, but I just said one more year, just one more year,” Matuszko said. “I’m not sorry that I stayed. I did know it was gonna be a struggle but I wanted to go through that with the players.”
Matuszko first got into coaching when his oldest son Jeff began playing sports in elementary school. From there he continued to coach his sons Jeff and Michael through middle school. Jim Matuszko moved from coaching in the Suburban League to Amherst junior varsity after Jeff graduated from Amherst Regional. (Michael played high school basketball at Hopkins Academy.) Jim Matuszko, who also played at Amherst Regional, continued to coach long after his kids graduated. He said he wanted to help develop the younger generation.
“I got into coaching because of my own kids and stayed in for everyone else’s,” Matuszko said. “I didn’t want to be one of those self-serving guys.”
Those who have worked closely with Matuszko, whether they be former coaches or players, describe him as a quiet but generous person who always put his players first.
Michael Coblyn, Matuszko’s assistant for 15 seasons between 2000 and 2018, traveled from New York to Northampton with his son Andy to witness his longtime partner’s final game. Coblyn’s other son, Ben, was a key player when the Hurricanes won the state Division 1 championship in 2003.
“To me, Jim is Amherst basketball, ” Michael Coblyn said. “I don’t think people understand the dedication. The season is four months, seven days a week.”
Dwayne Killings, who is an assistant coach at Marquette, grew up playing with Matuszko’s son Michael as Jim was making his way up the coaching ladder. Killings described Matuszko as one of the most generous people he ever knew.
“If he had two dollars, you had one of them,” Killings said. “That’s just the kind of person that Jim is.”
Craig Boivin, Matuszko’s current assistant for the last eight years, holds Matuszko in high regard as a coach and as a teacher.
“Coach Matuszko is amazing,” Boivin said. “To see him work with the kids day in and day out, he embodies the program that puts academics first. We’ve been through a lot the last eight years and he’s been a great mentor to me.”
Willie Pope, Amherst’s junior varsity coach, echoed Boivin’s statement about Matuszko’s dedication to working with the kids.
“He really cares about the kids,” Pope said. “He’s firm with them and expects a lot from them, but he definitely wants the best from the kids.”
Matuszko has enjoyed moments of great success during his career, highlighted by the boys program’s only state championship, over 200 wins and being named western Mass. coach of the year three times by his fellow coaches. But he is retiring for the same reason why he first started coaching – family. Michele and Jim Matuszko have four children – Jeff, Michael, Jamie and Nicole – and a combined eight grandchildren. Jim wanted to be a more prominent figure in their lives.
“I really enjoyed (coaching) a lot but I’m getting up there in age and now with grandchildren, it’s time to pass the baton to someone else who will hopefully stick around for a while,” Matuszko said. “They’re all getting older and are starting to figure out who their grandparents are and I don’t want to be the one they don’t know.”
