HS Basketball: Mullaney resigns as Minersville’s boys’ coach

Dave Mullaney talks with his team during a timeout of a Minersville game earlier this season. Mullaney resigns as the Miners' head coach last week (Photo by Kelly Wiley)

MINERSVILLE — The Dave Mullaney Era at Minersville has come to an end.

The veteran boys’ basketball coach resigned as the Miners’ head coach last week after winning 53 games in three seasons. His resignation was officially approved at Wednesday night’s meeting of the Minersville Area school board.

 “I really did enjoy my three years (at Minersville),” Mullaney said Thursday. “There were a lot of obstacles that we had to overcome but I’m really proud of the job that we were able to do and what we able to accomplish in three years.”

Mullaney, 47, took over at Minersville in 2022, two years after resigning as the head coach at Pottsville in 2020. Mullaney was the head coach of the Crimson Tide for 13 seasons (2007-20), compiling a 282-75 (.790 winning percentage) overall record that included 11 Schuylkill League Division I titles, nine overall league crowns, four District 11 championships and nine trips to the PIAA playoffs.

Mullaney’s success continued at Minersville. Inheriting a team that went 2-20 the season before, the Miners were 16-8 and reached the PIAA playoffs during Mullaney’s first campaign (2022-23) and were 15-8 last season.

This season, Minersville finished 22-6 overall despite moving up to Division I. The Miners were 12-2 in league play, sharing the Division I championship with Mahanoy Area. The Miners qualified for the Schuylkill League playoffs for the first time since winning back-to-back Division II crowns in 2015 and 2016 and notched their first league playoff win since beating Mount Carmel 57-55 in 2002.

In the league playoffs, Minersville routed Weatherly 76-42 and beat Nativity 65-51 before falling to Pottsville 50-43 in the league championship game. It was Minersville’s first appearance in the league final since falling to Shamokin 55-40 in 2002.

In the District 11 Class 3A playoffs, Minersville edged Notre Dame-Green Pond 52-50 in overtime before losing to Catasauqua 61-50 in the title game. Warrior Run ended the Miners’ season with a 49-48 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs.

“When I think back to the first couple of workouts that we had there and what we were trying to build, really from the foundation up, some of the simplest concepts and things, to where we ended up,” Mullaney said, reflecting on what he’ll remember most from his tenure at Minersville.

“Just that whole process trying to build a whole system, the people that went into that, the coaching staff, which I was very thankful to have … The kids that worked really hard and really committed to us really improved.”

Mullaney, a mathematics teacher at Pottsville, compiled a 53-22 overall record at Minersville. For his career, Mullaney is 335-97 (.775), with an amazing 22-3 mark in the Schuylkill League playoffs.

He said he has no plans to continue coaching … but he didn’t rule out a return to the bench sometime in the future, either.

“I don’t know if this is it,” Mullaney said, “but I have no plans right now to be a head coach anytime soon.”