HS Basketball: Wartella resigns as Pottsville boys’ head coach
Pottsville coach Jake Wartella giving Christian Alvarez his district championship medal (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
POTTSVILLE — For Jake Wartella, it was all about timing.
The 37-year-old proud father of two resigned as the Pottsville boys’ basketball coach last week to spend more time with his growing family.
Wartella was a coach in the Pottsville program since 2010, serving the last five seasons as the Crimson Tide’s head coach. He guided Pottsville to a 21-7 overall record in 2024-25 that included Schuylkill League and District 11 Class 5A championships.
“Going into the season I knew that this might be my last year, but I wasn’t 100% sure either,” Wartella said Tuesday. “I wanted to enjoy the season and then make my mind up after. It wasn’t an easy decision, but after taking a few weeks to weigh the pros and cons, I am happy with my decision.
“Having two young kids at home and wanting to spend more time with them was definitely the main reason for me stepping down. I also plan on taking some graduate classes with the hope of furthering my career in the education field.
“Being the head coach at Pottsville is a yearly grind and I was worried about the time commitment it takes to run a championship program, so I didn’t want to do a disservice to the team.”
Wartella was a four-year starter in football and basketball and a three-year starter in baseball during his playing career at Pottsville. The 2006 graduate was the starting quarterback on the Crimson Tide’s football teams that reached the PIAA Class 3A state championship games in 2004 and 2005 and was a sophomore guard on Pottsville’s 2004 Schuylkill League championship basketball team.
After graduating from East Stroudsburg University in 2010, he immediately started coaching football and basketball at Pottsville. In basketball, he was the junior high/freshman coach and a varsity assistant on Dave Mullaney’s staff for nine seasons before taking over as the head coach when Mullaney departed in 2020.
Wartella compiled an 87-43 overall record as the Tide’s head coach, making the Schuylkill League playoffs all five seasons and the PIAA playoffs three times. He guided the Tide to the 2021 league finals before falling to Nativity, then won league crowns in 2022 and 2025.
Pottsville also won District 11 Class 5A titles in 2022 and ’25 and was third in 2023. The Tide lost in the first round of the state playoffs all three of those seasons.
When asked what he’ll remember the most about his tenure as the Crimson Tide head coach, his answer was easy … the players.
“Coaching at Pottsville, we pride ourselves on having a great basketball program but having even better kids who are involved in the program,” Wartella said. “It’s very cliché and a lot of teams preach the ‘family’ aspect, but at Pottsville it couldn’t be more true. Former players and coaches have a special bond that will last forever and it’s almost like a cult for anybody that’s been involved in our program. Bumping into former players or getting random text messages from them and just sharing laughs or old memories is what I am going to miss most, but I know that it will last forever.”
Wartella spoke highly of this year’s team. As the season progressed, he regularly commented after games and during the Tide’s playoff run how impressed he was by the team’s work ethic, their chemistry and their resilience.
The Tide opened the season slowly, going 5-4 through Christmas. A thrilling win over eventual District 4 Class 4A runner-up Shamokin on Dec. 30 triggered an 11-2 run through the rest of the regular season.
Pottsville qualified for the Schuylkill League playoffs as the third seed from Division I. The Tide beat Tri-Valley 63-55 in the quarterfinals before unseating defending champion Mahanoy Area 54-44 in the semifinals and downing Minersville 50-43 in the title game.
That success continued in districts, where Pottsville decked Southern Lehigh 55-36 in the semifinals and edged Bangor 33-30 in the title game. The Tide’s season ended with a 46-43 loss to Penncrest in the opening round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs.
“This year’s team was such a special group and I couldn’t be more proud to coach all of these kids,” Wartella said. “Their work ethic was second to none and they represented everything that Pottsville Basketball is all about. They were a group who a lot of people counted out, but they had goals and wanted to reach them.
“They worked hard, stayed together, ignored all the noise, and ultimately cemented themselves as one of the better teams in school history. They wanted to prove people wrong and it was such a fun ride doing that with them. They ended the season with 21 wins and two championships and they are champions forever!
“I will never forget this group and I am grateful for getting the chance to coach them. We have so many great memories together and I am thankful for what we accomplished together.”
Pottsville graduates six seniors — starters Letrel Montone, Derek Watkins and London Ivy and reserves Tahlil Flucker-White, Michael Allen and Gianni Hughes-Crane, who missed the season due to injury.
A strong corps of players returns, led by current juniors Christian Alvarez, Ryder Bowers and JuJu Bainbridge and sophomores Colin McGinley and Max Clews, giving Pottsville strong hope of another successful season in 2025-26.
Pottsville becomes the fourth Schuylkill League Division I boys’ team to change coaches already this offseason, joining Minersville, North Schuylkill and Pine Grove.
The Pottsville Area School District officially posted the head boys’ basketball coaching position Monday. For more information, visit the district’s website, www.pottsville.k12.pa.us.
