Boys basketball: St. Thomas Aquinas promotes from within, names new head coach

St. Thomas Aquinas High School athletic director Jerry Smith did not have to look far to find a replacement for highly successful boys basketball head coach Bob Turco, who resigned from his Trojans’ post last week to take the same position at Piscataway.

Smith’s search ended one seat away in Austin Whitehurst, an assistant at the North Edison school since 2020.

“I’m really excited to take over one of the best basketball programs in New Jersey over the last five years. I’m really honored.” Whitehurst said. “It’s just a place where something special can be built, and we’ve proven that over the last four or five years.”

His first priority is to secure commitments from the five returning varsity players, led by junior guard Aiden Ur and Aidan Carter, one of the top-rated freshman prospects in the state. Smith feels by filling the position internally there’s a better chance of avoiding the situation that occurred prior to last season, when every returning player transferred out of the program.

“We were devastated when all of those kids left last year and our cupboard was bare,” Smith said. “We’re trying to keep the kids that are here, and they seem to like the familiarity.”

Whitehurst, who graduated from Monmouth Regional and teaches at Lawrence High School, has also served under successful coaches, like longtime St. Anthony assistant Ben Gamble at Mater Dei, with former Rutgers coach Mike Rice, and the Team Rio AAU program. He also played for the legendary Joe Whalen, former coach of the St. Thomas girls team.

“He’s young, he’s enthusiastic, he’s passionate, he’s motivated,” said Smith, who has a reputation for hiring successful coaches. ‘He’s going to hold his players accountable.”

More: Baseball: South Plainfield draws the top seed in the 2024 GMC Tournament, full pairings

More: Baseball Player of the Week: Manville’s Justin Petti wins award

The Trojans have forged a tradition of playing a challenging, non-conference schedule, and Whitehurst aims to maintain that legacy.

“I’m a competitor and I’ve experienced what this program can be and we’ve competed, and beat, some of the upper echelon,” Whitehurst said. “And I think that’s one of the ways that you get kids in the program, understanding that they’ll have opportunities and a platform to be successful and chase their goals beyond high school. I want to give everybody the opportunity to compete at the highest level and the only way to do that is playing at the highest level.”

Turco compiled a 122-35 record at St. Thomas, winning three GMC Tournament titles.

“My relationship with Coach Turco goes far beyond sports. I consider Bob a brother, and he is going to do a tremendous job at Piscataway,” Smith said. “There’s not a coach that I’ve ever been associated with that cares more about the athlete outside of the game.”

Now the Austin Whitehurst era begins, and the fledgling head coach has high expectations.

“One of the things I want people to understand is the type of brand of basketball that we are going to be playing,” explained Whitehurst. “I hope that when people come and see our team, they see not just a smart team, but a team that plays hard, plays together and shares the ball. We’re looking forward to this next chapter for us.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Boys basketball: St. Thomas Aquinas names new head coach