HS Boys’ Basketball: Agosti hired as North Schuylkill boys’ coach

North Schuylkill boys' basketball coach Anthony Agosti poses at Wednesday's Board of Education meeting (Photo by Justin Reed/Skook News).

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — As he learned the tricks of the trade over the past decade as an assistant coach at two Schuylkill League basketball programs, Anthony Agosti envisioned that someday he would become as a head coach.

Wednesday night, the 29-year-old Lake Hauto resident got that chance.

Agosti was hired as North Schuylkill’s next head boys’ basketball coach during Wednesday’s monthly meeting of the North Schuylkill Board of Education.

Agosti takes over for Will Bracey, who was not re-hired last month by the board after four seasons as the Spartans’ head coach.

“Ever since I started coaching, my natural progression of it was for me to be a head coach somewhere,” Agosti said Wednesday night. “I bided my time, had great experiences everywhere I’ve coached. I saw an opportunity to become the head coach at North Schuylkill and I took the chance and applied for it.”

Agosti grew up in Lake Hauto and attended Marian Catholic, where he played football, basketball and baseball for the Colts.

After graduating from Marian in 2014, Agosti attended Lebanon Valley College and played football for the Dutchmen for two years before returning home to help his father, Bobby, run the family business — Skip’s Dairy Bar and Grill on Route 309 in Hometown.

The youngest of four kids, Agosti served as an assistant basketball and baseball coach at his alma mater from 2016-19 before joining Jim Barron’s basketball staff at Tamaqua.

Agosti was the head junior varsity coach his first season with the Blue Raiders (2019-20) before becoming Barron’s top varsity assistant the past four seasons.

He hopes to take the lessons learned from his time at Tamaqua and use them to mold his program at North Schuylkill.

“Coach Barron and I have an unbelievable relationship,” Agosti said. “He has become a mentor to me and, more importantly, he’s become a great friend of mine.

“The things I’ve learned from him, in-game situations, how to handle the program, how to do things in the offseason … everything that I’ve been able to learn from him the last five years really is going to help me get the right foot forward here at North Schuylkill.”

Agosti said he became interested in the North Schuylkill position because of the school’s championship culture and the character of the people in the district.

Agosti said his goal is to move the program forward and build for the future.

“North Schuylkill, for as long as I’ve been alive, has always been filled with great people,” Agosti said. “They’re tough, they’re consistently at a championship level and overall it’s just a great school district to be a part of. Every sign right there is very intriguing for a young guy like me to be a part of and have some success there.

“Everything right now is about what we do going forward. We’re going to surround ourselves with some great people and our kids are really going to buy in to what we have to offer.”