Tony Bisutti of Columbus Bishop Ready High School says that once he started coaching boys basketball at age 25, he knew he’d be doing it for decades to come.
“I was a teacher when I finished my degree work at Bethany (W.Va.) College and didn’t get into coaching for three years, but when I became an assistant to Vince Chickerella at (Columbus St. Francis) DeSales (High School), that’s all it took to get me fully involved. I got the feeling before too long that this is what I was born to do.
“Coaching is an addiction, something I liken to a good disease. Once it gets into your blood, it permeates into you and becomes a big part of what you are.”
Bisutti won his 500th game as a coach on Saturday, Dec. 20 when Ready defeated Bexley 79-59. His overall record is 503-259 as of Dec. 31. This is his eighth season at Ready, where he is 135-45.
He followed Chickerella in 1987 at DeSales, where he was 83-19 in six seasons, coached at New Philadelphia for two years, then became Dublin Scioto’s first coach in 1995, leading the Irish to a 270-136 record in 18 seasons and twice winning Ohio Coach of the Year honors from The Associated Press.
He left coaching in 2013 and continued teaching business courses at Scioto for five years, then returned to the bench at Ready in 2018. His third state coach of the year award came from the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association after a 2022-23 season in which the Silver Knights went 28-1, losing to Akron Buchtel in the state semifinals, the closest he has come to a state championship.
He said that group and his 2008-09 team at Scioto, which went 28-2, are the two teams that stick out in his mind from 37 seasons in coaching, 34 of them as a head coach.
He described the 2022-23 Ready squad as “the epitome of team basketball.”
“They were the easiest team I ever coached because they carried out everything I wanted them to,” he said. “Luke Ruth, Charlie Russell and Kayden Schaffer were all seniors on that team who went on to play college sports and were just dynamite in the way they meshed together. Kayden broke his ankle against Buchtel in the state semifinals and that may have kept us from the championship.
“The Scioto team in 2008-09 went 24-2 and lost in overtime in the regional finals to Columbus Northland, which won the state championship and had Jared Sullinger and Trey Burke, both of whom went on to outstanding careers in college and the NBA.
“I’m still close to players from both of those teams and it’s like that with the best teams. It seems to me their players stick together more than most after they leave school,” Bisutti said.
“As far as memorable players I’ve coached, there have been so many it’s hard to single one or two out, but the Daniels brothers, Chris and Antonio, at DeSales come to mind right away.” Chris died at age 22 in 1996 of cardiac arrythmia during his senior season at the University of Dayton. Antonio played for Bowling Green and had a 13-season career in the NBA, winning a championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999.
“I’ve been fortunate to have many players go on to college and pro careers. When you have good athletes playing for you, they make you look good, and I’ve had a few,” Bisutti said.
The 1979 DeSales graduate said his coaching style has been influenced mainly by Chickerella; Bob Lennon, his basketball coach at DeSales; and his baseball coach there, Bill Killian.
“What I learned from Vince was preparation, all the things it takes beforehand to get you in the right state of mind to play well and to adjust to your opponent,” he said. “Vince was a great offensive and defensive tactician and I hope that’s one of my attributes, especially the defensive part. A lot of the guys who knew me in high school might laugh at that because offense was my strong point as a player.”
Like Bisutti, Chickerella had a long and successful career, coaching for 29 years at Columbus Linden McKinley, DeSales and Hilliard high schools and Capital University and winning state championships in 1967 at Linden and 1987 at DeSales. He also coached the Columbus Horizon of the minor-league Continental Basketball Association in the early 1990s.
“Bob Lennon and Bill Killian set a coaching example when I was in high school that instilled in me the ability to bond a bunch of different personalities into a unit that works together,” he said.
“I was part of DeSales’ first state baseball championship team in 1979. We’ve stayed connected for the 45 years since then because of how Bill got us to become a team.” Speaking of Lennon, he said, “Bob’s loss was a terrible blow because of the impact he had on so many young lives.”
Lennon died in 2013 when his bicycle was struck by a car on a rural Delaware County road. He had been a teacher in the Diocese of Columbus for 42 years, 40 of them at DeSales, where he was cross country coach for nearly all that period. He also was basketball coach there for six years and an assistant coach of track and field and girls basketball teams.
Bisutti said he was very intense as a young coach but changed his style as the years went by. “I remember in particular how after my first game as a head coach, a loss at Columbus Mifflin, I was up all night going over all my mistakes and wondering if we would ever win, especially after being an assistant on a state championship team the year before.
“The next game, we played Ready and won big, but I felt bad after that because I wondered if I’d left the starters in too long.
“I was a worry wart the first couple of years, but as you mature, you realize that it’s not good to overthink. You learn how to manage things better and recognize there’s so much you can’t control,” he said.
“Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to work with administrators including Pat Rossetti (principal) and Bill Callahan (athletics director) at DeSales, Marina David (principal) at Scioto and now Matt Brickner (principal) and Dave Oddi (athletics director) at Ready. Their support has provided plenty of encouragement.”
Bisutti, 64, and his wife, Wendy, have a son, Antonio; two daughters, Stephanie and Christina; a stepson, Bryson Creed; and one grandson. Antonio was coached by his father at Scioto and went on to play in college at Otterbein and Ohio University. Stephanie and Christina both were Ready players, with Stephanie also playing at Ohio University.
Bisutti said high school players haven’t changed much during his decades in coaching, “but what is different is the amount of parental involvement in many cases. You have to deal with parents much more now.
“The essentials of what I do as a coach haven’t changed in 37 years, but I’ve modernized how things have been done over that time, making little adjustments in things like our drills and our mode of attack to keep things fresh.
“One good thing about the players I’ve coached is that they’ve mostly been players who wanted to be coached and to learn. Knowing they’re willing to listen helps you feel well-supported,” he said.
“When I took over from Vince Chickerella, I learned the hardest thing for me as a coach, but the thing I had to do, was to be myself. You can’t help but be influenced by the methods you’ve inherited from the coaches who have mentored you, but you know you’re going to be different.
“Players know from the beginning that I draw a hard line on certain non-negotiables and that if they don’t stick to them, they’ll be on the bench no matter how well they’re playing,” Bisutti said. Some of his coaching rules are “Do sprint back on defense,” “Always be ready to play in transition,” “Because a shot is acceptable for someone else to take doesn’t mean it’s acceptable for you,” “Everybody’s different, but that doesn’t mean everybody’s equal” and “Defense does not mean inactivity when you’re not on offense.”
“Everybody’s a role player,” he said. “Some players are better shooters than others, some are screeners, some are rebounders, some are passers. Get five guys together who can see which role is best for them and you’ve got a chance at something special.”
“Being at a Catholic school gives players a great chance to see the game as not just something you play, but something with an impact that goes through all your life,” Bisutti said. “Every day, I try to talk to players about life in general rather than just basketball. I feel that’s my duty as a coach. I may not be great about it, but I try to do my best.”
Bisutti said he knows he’s in the latter stages of his career but hasn’t thought much about retirement. “I’m just trying to get through one day at a time and not looking too far down the road,” he said. “I know it will be time to leave coaching when I don’t feel like I’m enjoying it, but I haven’t gotten there yet.”
