Ken Parham has been successful at each of his coaching stops and the new head coach of the Huntington High School varsity boys’ basketball team is confident that his stint on the Blue Devil sidelines will be no different.
Parham was a highly regarded high school and college player before going on to win championships as a coach at Bay Shore, St. Anthony’s and New York Institute of Technology.
The winter season and boys’ basketball practice kicks off on Monday, November 15. Parham welcomes all Huntington High School boys who want to try-out for the team. Interested in joining the program, send a message to Parham at kparham@hufsd.edu.
After New York Tech put its entire athletic program on indefinite hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, Parham signed on as a Huntington varsity assistant coach last winter. During the off-season, the district elevated him to the top position and charged him with developing the Blue Devils into one of the county’s best teams. He’s been working hard ever since, running off-season intramurals and watching Huntington players compete in summer and fall leagues.
Parham is the assistant principal of J. Taylor Finley Middle School. He received his undergraduate degree in history with a minor in education at Dowling College in 1992. He obtained a master of science in school counseling at Long Island University – C.W. Post in 1997 and earned a certificate of advanced study in educational administration at Stony Brook University in 2005.
Before coming to Finley, Parham taught fifth grade accelerated math classes in Bay Shore, where he attended high school and starred on the basketball team.
Mr. Parham coached the Bay Shore men’s varsity basketball team, winning numerous league titles and the Suffolk championship in 2004. He was voted coach of the year many times and won 70 percent of his games.
As a fifth grade teacher, Mr. Parham instructed accelerated mathematics classes. Upon his own high school graduation, he initially attended the University of Texas at El Paso on a scholarship before eventually transferring to Dowling.
Parham will be assisted at Huntington by Finley physical education teacher Jordan Ioviero. The junior varsity team will be coached by Bryant Lassiter, who is well-known in New York metropolitan area basketball circles.
Ioviero was hired in 2019 to teach physical education in the district. A 2007 graduate of John H. Glenn High School, he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and adapted PE at Dowling College in 2011. He earned a master’s degree at Touro College in 2015. Prior to being appointed in Huntington, he worked as a physical education teacher at Riverview School-PS 277Q in Queens since September 2015
Ioviero previously coached football at John H. Glenn, Locust Valley and Smithtown West high schools, winning county and Long Island championships along the way. He was an assistant varsity basketball coach at Half Hollow Hills East, again winning county and LI titles and reaching the state finals.
A two-time All-Long Island honoree, Lassiter played for Parham at Bay Shore High School before being a multiple First Team All-Conference award recipient at New York Institute of Technology.
Lassiter earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business management at New York Tech and an MBA with an emphasis in sports management at Grand Canyon University. He played professionally for several years after his college career concluded. Since then he has coached many youth basketball and AAU teams. He has been a men’s and women’s basketball team assistant at New York Tech. He also coordinates a major Long Island youth basketball tournament.
Tim Madden will return at Finley’s coach. He has been a Huntington physical education teacher since September 2002 and currently works at Flower Hill Primary School. A graduate of Hauppauge High School, he obtained an undergraduate degree at SUNY Cortland and a master’s degree at Stony Brook University. He has coached football, basketball, baseball, track, lacrosse and softball at various levels.