Following-up on something that I mentioned back on 5/28 (D3 DIRT)…Al Pettway has officially been hired as the head men’s basketball coach at Worcester State. Here’s the official statement from the school:
The Worcester State Athletic Department, led by Athletic Director Michael Mudd, is pleased to announce the return of Al Pettway ‘94 as the new Men’s Basketball Head Coach. Pettway will serve as the 12th head coach in the program’s 74-year history that has seen three NCAA appearances, most recently with back-to-back appearances in 2022-23 and 2023-24 under departing former Head Coach Tyler Hundley.
“We are excited to bring Al Pettway back to campus to lead our basketball program in order to continue its forward trajectory of developing young men and winning championships,” states Mudd. “Al’s success building a program speaks for itself with the success he has had at North High School. His experience building a great program, serving as a mentor to young men, combined with his familiarity and incredible playing career at Worcester State back in the 1990’s makes him a perfect fit at this time for our student-athletes, our Athletics Department and Worcester State University.”
Pettway returns to Worcester after an illustrious career both as a student-athlete at Worcester State and Head Coach for the two-time State Champions North High School. Pettway began his career as the North High School head coach when he took over the program in 2002 and almost immediately was able to develop success with the program, claiming the 2005 District Championship. Over the past 22 years with the program, he has only continued to build upon their success. The past two seasons have been the most historically noteworthy for the success of the program as the 2022-23 team would go 23-0 and claim the first Division I State Championship title for a Worcester Public School and continued that success, going 45-0 to defeat Franklin in the State Championship for their own set of back-to-back championships.
“I was blessed when I was hired to be the head coach at North High 22 years ago,” says Pettway. “My kids have been an inspiration here and I leave knowing I have fulfilled all I could with the first ever D1 Championships. My basketball journey continues at Worcester State and North will hire a deserving coach to carry on the program for the boys! I look forward to getting started in my new chapter at Worcester State University and I want to thank President Barry M. Maloney and Athletic Director Michael Mudd for the opportunity to return to a place I thoroughly enjoyed playing for four 4 years.”
Prior to his time as a coach and administrator at North High School, Pettway served as an assistant coach at Worcester Academy, Assumption, and had a brief homecoming at Worcester State.
As a student-athlete at Worcester State, Pettway distinguished himself in basketball. He has the singular distinction to be the college’s all-time leading scorer in basketball with 2,205 career points and led the team in scoring his junior and senior year. He was a four-year starter and served as captain of the Lancer team in his senior year. To this day, he still holds eight college records in basketball and a school record of 233 three-pointers, 798 field goals made and 226 career steals.
The team was 64-44 during Alan Pettway’s four years. The Lancers competed in the ECAC Tournament in 1992-93 and the NCAA National Tournament in 1993-94. Pettway was named Massachusetts State College Conference All Star for three straight years and was named second team All New England All-Star twice.
Pettway graduated in 1994 from Worcester State with a degree in Health Sciences and received his master’s in counseling psychology from Cambridge College. He now works full-time for North High School as the Dean of Students and is working towards his administration degree.
