Reminick Ready for New Challenge
After building the Huntington High School girls' basketball team into a perennial Suffolk power, Brad Reminick is ready for a new challenge.
Reminick, is leaving the girls' program he is so closely identified with and taking over the Blue Devils' varsity boys' basketball team. A 1995 Huntington alum, he will be filling the head coach position vacated by his uncle, Mike Schmitz, who left to be an assistant coach at Dowling College
"I didn't really think about leaving the girls' program," Reminick said during a recent interview. "I thought I was going to be there for a number of years. We have been very successful and I enjoyed working with all my players. But, when Mike left I saw it as a new opportunity and challenge in my life. I wanted to try something new."
Reminick captained the Blue Devil boys' squad as a senior. He is a social studies teacher at J. Taylor Finley Middle School. In eight years as head coach of the high school varsity girls' team, he compiled a record of 83-59 and led Huntington to the 2008 Suffolk title and the county finals in 2007 and 2009.
The coach's mind is already engrossed in how he can make the Blue Devil boys' hard court program one of the best on Long Island. "I am very excited about the position but I also know it is going to be a lot of work," Reminick said. "It took me three years to get the girls' program heading in the direction I wanted it to go."
One of Reminick's hallmarks with the girls' program was having a highly conditioned team that could effectively run an opponent off the court. It appears he has no intention of changing that philosophy.
"It will be an honor to coach the boys and it is special to me because I played for Huntington and was the captain of our 1995 team," Reminick said. "The kids are going to work just as hard as the girls did and I hope our style of play resembles the girls' teams, which were very successful. We are going to run, play hard defense for 32 minutes and support one another in a positive fashion."
Huntington returns a team filled with potential. During summer league play two months ago, the Blue Devils advanced to the championship game where they lost to St. Anthony's by a dozen points. "It was a bit shocking to get to the finals, but they really came together and were encouraged by their success," Reminick said. "Even though it was summer league and we didn't have all of our core players on the floor at times, I was happy with what I saw."
If the Huntington boys' team embraces an exciting style of play and starts winning games, expect Blue Devil fans to fill the bleachers. Success has a way of attracting large crowds. Several players are using the off-season to prepare, which is smart considering Reminick's fondness for grueling workouts. "We have a lot of talent and I am impressed with their effort so far," he said.
The new challenge has energized Reminick and he is enthusiastic about assuming control of the boys' program. "Mike Schmitz is my uncle and he was the assistant coach of our 1995 team," Reminick said. "So to play for him and now follow him as a coach has been really special for me and our entire family."