How to coach youth basketball

Mike Spikoski joins the staff this season bringing a strong foundation of knowledge, energy, and commitment to player development. With a deep passion for the game and a keen eye for detail, Mike has built a reputation for fostering growth through his coaching and officiating background. His ability to connect with athletes and elevate their performance aligns seamlessly with the culture of this experienced coaching team. As he steps into this new chapter, Mike is ready to contribute his insight, enthusiasm, and leadership to help drive the program’s continued success.

Rich Wankel joins an experienced coaching staff this season, bringing with him a strong background in player development, leadership, and a strategic approach to the game. Known for his dedication and ability to build meaningful relationships with players, Rich brings an enthusiastic approach to providing our players with a positive experience this season. His coaching philosophy emphasizes hard work, accountability, and teamwork. These values align perfectly with the culture of our program. Rich is excited to contribute his experience and passion as the team prepares for a competitive and successful season.

Thomas Matonti is an emerging basketball trainer joining the Rossetti Basketball team, bringing a dynamic blend of youthful energy and foundational knowledge of the game. Currently entering his sophomore year in college, Thomas has already built a strong reputation among his peers for his commitment to skill development and his keen understanding of player progression. His experience as a student-athlete gives him a unique perspective on the modern demands of the game, allowing him to connect with younger athletes while offering fresh, relatable training methods rooted in discipline and hard work. 

At Rossetti Basketball, Thomas will play an integral role in helping athletes refine their fundamentals, sharpen their skills, and improve their overall performance. Known for his patient teaching style and passion for mentorship, he brings a positive, motivating presence to the court. With a deep love for the game and a strong desire to help others grow, Thomas is a valuable addition to the Rossetti team and a great resource for players looking to elevate their game. 

Tyler Cobb joins Rossetti Basketball as a promising young trainer with a strong passion for the game and a drive to help players reach their full potential. As he enters his sophomore year in college, Tyler brings both firsthand experience as a student-athlete and a solid understanding of modern basketball techniques. His time on the court has shaped a training style that emphasizes skill development, and work ethic.  

With Rossetti Basketball, Tyler is committed to creating a positive and focused training environment where athletes of all levels can grow. His approachable nature and attention to detail make him an excellent mentor for younger players, while his dedication to the craft ensures that each session is purposeful and tailored to individual needs. Tyler’s fresh perspective and strong commitment to development make him a valuable asset to the Rossetti team and the athletes he works with. 

Graduated from Shoreham Wading River High School in 2021, as a four year Varsity member, most notably, a captain for three years. Was named All League three times and All Conference two times from his sophomore to senior year. As a senior year, Tom received All County along with All Tournament Team honors. Led Shoreham Wading River to back to back playoff appearances. As a senior in 2020-2021, Tom averaged 20 ppg, 6 apg, 6 rpg, 5 spg. Currently a captain of the St. Joseph’s University Men’s Basketball team, pursuing a degree in Child Study. Thomas is a valuable addition to the training and coaching staff as an experienced, mature leader, working with players of all ages and ability levels.

Graduated from Sachem North in 2023 as a three year varsity player and a captain in both his junior and senior seasons. Led Sachem North to back to back playoff appearances. Named All League and All Conference in both junior and senior seasons. An All County selection in his senior year. Chris is currently a member of the Men’s Basketball team at St. Joseph’s University where he will be entering his sophomore year in the Fall of 2024.

A graduate of Eastport South Manor High School where he was a four year starter. All County and All State as a senior. Justin averaged 22.2 points and 4 assists per game in his senior campaign. Currently, a two year starting point guard for St. Joseph’s University on Long Island majoring in Business Administration.

Billy is currently in his first year as the Varsity Boys Basketball Coach at Port Jefferson High School following coaching stints at St. Joseph’s University and Eastport South Manor to name a few.

Billy provides tremendous value to our DEVELUP program with his ability to connect and communicate with players of all ages and ability levels. We are excited to have Billy alongside our tremendous staff as we grow as a unit with DEVELUP.

Brendan Martin, a 2018 graduate of Ward Melville High School and three-year varsity player under Coach Alex Piccirillo, earned numerous All-League and All-Conference honors during his tenure. Brendan’s career was punctuated by impressive victories against Long Island powerhouse Brentwood, as well as Longwood and Half Hollow Hills West. Renowned for his offensive prowess, Brendan left Ward Melville averaging 11.6 points and 6 assists per game over his career. As senior captain, he led Ward Melville to its first League I title in 28 years, while also setting the schools single season assist record. Following his time at Ward Melville, Brendan accomplished his childhood dream of becoming a Division I basketball player. In September of 2019, Brendan successfully walked onto the Quinnipiac University Men’s Basketball Team. His time at Quinnipiac was marked by consistent academic excellence, earning him annual recognition on the All MAAC Academic team. Remarkably, Brendan graduated from Quinnipiac’s accelerated business program in just four years, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Finance and a Master of Business Administration. We are thrilled to have Brendan join the DEVELUP team, where he aims to make significant contributions to the overall skill and IQ development of the program. His exceptional background and experience makes him an invaluable resource to any youth basketball player aspiring to excel at both the high school and collegiate levels.

Kevin was a member of the Men’s Basketball program for St. Joseph’s University-Long Island for 3 seasons, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Childhood General and Special Education. Kevin attended Sayville High School where he was a 3 year varsity member, top 15 in Suffolk County and top 25 on Long Island during his senior season in made three point field goals. During his third season at St. Joseph’s University, he posted a team best 39% from three.

Kevin currently teaches in the Bayport-Blue Point School District and is working towards a Graduate degree in Childhood Special Education with an annotation in severe and multiple disabilities.

Kevin has trained with Rossetti Basketball since the beginning and aims to extend my knowledge to the development of all players who join our program. His passion for teaching and working with children will be evident through his experiences as a trainee in our system.

Graduated from Eastport South Manor High School in 2019, starting all 4 years on the Varsity Girls Basketball team. 4 time All-League and 3 time All-County member, as well as a 2x League 4 MVP. Graduated from SUNY Cortland in 2023 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, playing for the Women’s Basketball team for 3 years where she was a starter for two years. Her junior year she was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament team after reaching the SUNYAC finals for the 2nd consecutive year. This past year Casey was named a Team Captain and won the 2023 SUNYAC Championship while also being named 2nd-Team All-SUNYAC. During her time at Cortland the team reached the NCAA tournament each year. For her last year of eligibility, Casey will be attending St. Joseph’s University while pursuing her Master’s degree in Special Education as a member of the Women’s Basketball team.

Graduate of Commack High School where he led his team to their first league title in 24 years and was named All League in both his junior and senior years. In addition to this honor, Spencer was also recognized, earning All Conference, All County, and All State in his senior season. In 2019-2020, Spencer was named League 2 Player of the Year. Currently, Spencer is a member of the St. Joseph’s University Men’s Basketball team on Long Island, named captain of the basketball team his freshmen season and recognized as All Conference First Team, D3Hoops All Regional Third Team and All-Met Division III Third Team. Apart from his playing career for the past 2 years, Spencer has been coaching and training a wide variety of ages and ability levels.

We are proud to have Spencer join the Rossetti Basketball and DEVELUP staff to continue building a strong team and culture that supports our players and families alike.

Cam Jordan is a graduate from Half Hollow Hills West where he was a four year varsity starter and earned League MVP, All County, All Long Island, and All Conference. His team captured a Class AA Suffolk Championship in 2016.

Cam attended Syracuse University on a full athletic football scholarship where he was awarded his Bachelor’s Degree of Science. Upon graduation, he began his coaching and personal training career, launching his speed and agility business in 2021 titled, PRIME Agility and Fitness. Cam is currently coaching high school level football and basketball at Half Hollow Hills East and West on Long Island.

Colby Jordan is a graduate from Half Hollow Hills West High School where he was a four year varsity player and earned All New York State, All Long Island First Team, League 5 MVP, and Small School Player of The Year in his high school career. His team captured a Conference 3 Suffolk County Championship in 2021 where he was named MVP. Colby is a rising junior at Brockport University and a starting point guard for the men’s basketball team. He recently won the Elite 20 Award which recognizes a student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the conference championship level while also achieving the highest academic standard with a 3.53 GPA in Sport Management.

Katie Doherty is a 2014 graduate of Sachem East High School where she was a five-year member and 2-year captain of the Girls Varsity basketball team. As an eighth-grader, she was a member of Sachem’s 2010 NYS Federation Championship team. As a captain her junior and senior years, Katie led her team to two county championships and one Long Island championship. Katie received First Team All-State and All-Long Island Honors. She was named Suffolk County Player of the Year and was a McDonald’s All-American Nominee in 2014. Katie completed her high school career as the 3rd All-Time Leading Scorer in school history with 1,339 points and she also set the school record for most points scored (38) in a game. She also was a 4-year member of the varsity field hockey team at Sachem where led her team to 2 state championships and earned All-State honors. Katie earned a full scholarship to play Division I basketball at Holy Cross from 2014-2018. Over her 4-year career, she was named captain her junior and senior year. She was named to the Patriot League All-Rookie team as a freshman and All-Academic team in 2016 and 2017. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and went on to earn a master’s degree in physical education from Brooklyn College. Katie spent 3 years teaching physical education at the elementary and middle-school level in Brooklyn, where she also coached the girl’s middle school basketball team. Katie has been a part of the Rossetti basketball family since 2009, when she was in just 7th grade. She is excited to help the next generation of basketball players develop confidence and unlock their full potential, the same way the Rossettis did for her.

George is a 2015 graduate of Bayport-Blue Point High School, where he was named All-County, his team captured the Class A Suffolk County Championship and he was named the League 6 MVP. Freshman year…Named Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year. Sophomore year…Named First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-Met. Junior year…Named First Team All-Skyline Conference, Second Team All-Met and D3hoops.com Third Team All-Atlantic Region. Senior year…Named First Team All-Conference, Skyline Defensive Player of the Year, D3hoops.com Second Team All-Atlantic Region, NABC Second Team All-Atlantic Region, All-ECAC Honorable Mention, Second Team All-Met and Reese’s DIII All-Star Selection.

George has logged countless hours mainly through 1:1 Private Training & our 3-v-3 Train & Play Program, and our DEVELUP team organization, developing players of all ages and abilities. George brings another layer of diversity to the program which allows us to cater our services to players in all abilities and positional spectrum.

Alyssa Torres attended both Long Island Lutheran and Connetquot High School. She was a two time All-League selection and two time MVP at Connequot with an All-County selection following her Junior season. Alyssa graduated from Long Island Lutheran High School in 2016 where she was a New York State Federation finalist. Member of the Rossetti Basketball family as a player for 8 years, Alyssa has been well accustomed to the culture that the program provides our clients.

Alyssa recently completed her Masters Degree from Merrimack College in Massachusetts, former member of the Northeast 10 Conference (NE-10) at the Division II level, and currently a Division I member as of the Fall of 2019 with the Northeast Conference (NEC). Earning a full scholarship, Alyssa and her team have reached the playoffs in 3 consecutive seasons with a 20 win performance in 2018-2019.

Alyssa will be working full time this coming Fall 2023 in the Deer Park Union Free School District as a 1st Grade teacher.

As one of our most tenured staff members in the program, Alyssa has led and assisted with 1:1 Private Training, Small Group Workouts, 3-v-3 Events, in addition to coaching teams in our DEVELUP organization. Alyssa has also instituted and organized curriculum for our NEW Adaptive Basketball Skills program for boys and girls with varying special needs.

Being a member of the Rossetti Basketball family since inception, we are excited to have Alyssa on board to share her experiences with the players of the next generation. It is extremely important in our family of players to cultivate a relationship with past, present, and future prospects in the Rossetti Basketball program. Our CULTURE is what separates the basketball training program from all others in the local area!

Ryan Hickey was a graduate of Smithtown High School West, Class of 2013. He was a 3 sport Varsity athlete and 3 year captain of the Varsity basketball team. During his tenure at Smithtown West, Ryan’s accolades included Suffolk County Player of the Year, First Team All-Long Island, as well as scoring over 1,000 points. Before his senior season of high school, Ryan signed his National of Letter Intent at Michael Rossetti’s facility to play for Dowling College (Division II) on a full basketball scholarship. Ryan was the Captain for the Men’s Basketball Team at Dowling from 2014-2016, where he majored in Finance and graduated with his Bachelors in Finance in 3 years. He was also named a COSIDA Academic All-American during his Junior Campaign. Ryan finished his fourth year of NCAA eligibility at Mercy College (Division II), where he played his final year as captain of the Men’s Basketball Team and graduated with his Masters of Business Administration in 2017. Ryan also collected his 1,000th career collegiate point during his senior season at Mercy. Ryan has been a client, assistant, and friend of Michael’s since his freshman year of high school in 2009. After spending countless hours of dedicated work with Michael, some of Ryan’s most important moments have come either at our Rossetti Basketball facility or with Michael in attendance. These moments included official college workouts, receiving full scholarship offers, accepting and signing NLI with Dowling, scoring 1,000th career point, etc…..and more importantly, thousands of hours of hard work when no one was watching.

We are excited to have Ryan on our team as he added instant value to our staff, further enhancing our commitment to providing a high quality experience to the players in attendance.

Ryan is one of our senior members here. Ryan is one of our key members in the DEVELUP Team organization, a direct affiliate of Rossetti Basketball, coaching multiple teams in the program. DEVELUP has grown into one of Long Island’s most complete and comprehensive travel program around. The players respond to his words and the inflection in which he delivers his message. We are more than grateful to have Ryan on our team to help our program take the next step as an organization.

Hunter Schenkel completed his playing career at Farmingdale State College (SUNY Farmingdale). Prior to SUNY Farmingdale, Hunter attended The College of New Rochelle for his first 3 years until the recent closure of the campus. A graduate of Sayville High School where he was a 3 year member of the Sayville Varsity Basketball team, eclipsing the 1,000 point milestone. Hunter led all of Long Island in scoring and was a 2-time All County selection, Most Outstanding Player of the Year and 10th team All New York State. In his 3 years as Captain of The College of New Rochelle men’s basketball team, Hunter scored a total of 1,503 points and was awarded the Division III Newcomer of the Year, HVIAC Player of the Year, USCAA Player of the Year, USCAA All American, All Metropolitan 3rd Team.

With a great deal of athletic success, Hunter shares a common passion for the game that he is willing to pass on to the next generation of players in our facility. Hunter has brought tremendous value to our staff, assisting players in developing their skills in many areas.

Hunter is our Associate Director at Rossetti Basketball, taking a lead role in program development, day to day operations, facility management, among so many other key roles in how we operate our training.

Ralph brings over 15 years of on the court teaching and training experience to Rossetti Basketball. Ralph has worked extensively with all ability levels, creating curriculum and progressions for players and teams alike. Most recently, Ralph has been working with NBA, WNBA, G-League, among many other notable professional level players competing all over the world. Additionally, Ralph has carved out a niche of players at the Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 collegiate level over the years that have raised their game through their consistent workout schedule primarily through his work.

Leading the developmental piece of our DEVELUP Team organization, our affiliate of Rossetti Basketball, Ralph has brought a new and innovative element to our team program. Players progress through our player development segment in our to fulfill our initiative building a strong foundation of skill and confidence through ALL practices offered each season. We are excited to add Ralph to our team, infusing a new energy and enthusiasm to our facility for all players and staff to gain value from.

A graduate of Centereach High School, Michael Rossetti completed his high school career as the 2nd All-Time Leading Scorer in school history with 1,003 points. Through his four years, Michael received 10th Team All-New York State and 2nd Team All-Long Island honors under Coach Bob McNeely in 2002. While at Centereach, Michael participated in Soccer, Basketball, and Lacrosse, receiving the Golden Key Award and Most Outstanding Athlete in his senior year.

Michael attended Pace University on a full athletic scholarship from 2002-2006 where he received his Bachelor’s degree in Finance. While at Pace, Michael was notably recognized for his leadership on and off the court. Serving as Captain in the 2005-2006 season, Michael earned the ECAC Merit Award in 2006.

During his collegiate years, Michael represented Long Island in the Empire State Games 2003, 2004, and 2005, winning gold medals in 2003 and 2004

In 2008, Michael earned his Master’s degree in Physical Education from Adelphi University. Michael has taught Physical Education at Deer Park High School from 2008-2011, working with students of all ability levels. During his Deer Park tenure, Michael had served as the Junior Varsity Head Boys Basketball Coach and Varsity Boys Assistant Coach from 2008-2011.

Since opening in 2010, Rossetti Basketball has rapidly expanded its program, developing players of all ability levels. Recently, Michael has been able to foster relationships with coaches of all levels including the CYO, AAU, Middle School, High School, Collegiate, and the NBA level. Michael has worked exclusively with players all over the Long Island region and beyond.

Serving as one of Long Island’s notable basketball training programs, Rossetti Basketball demands a high standard from all players with respect to attitude, work ethic, attention to detail, along with many other notable characteristics that coaches admire from our clients.

Founder of Rossetti Basketball, Michael ensures that each client will be provided with a high level of service, caring for each individual child and their respective development both physically and cognitively, through our basketball training program.