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Dante Calabria, a former Blackhawk High School star, is a basketball coach at Keiser University in Florida
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West Xtra: Blackhawk grad is quite the 'playwright'

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West Xtra: Blackhawk grad is quite the 'playwright'

The coaching staff at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Fla., has a regal nickname for assistant Dante Calabria.

Legendary coach Rollie Massimino explained.

"He's Shakespeare – because he draws up more plays than Shakespeare ever wrote," said Massimino, who led Villanova to the 1985 NCAA national title and is now in his 10th season at the NAIA Division II program. "He's always coming up with something."

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Massimino, 81, modified the moniker recently. He simply calls Calabria, "Shaky."

"That's because he and I argue over some of his plays," Massimino said of the 1992 Blackhawk High School graduate. "I love it, though, because we've installed a lot of his ideas into the offense. He's a great coach. He has a great temperament and he knows how to relate to players. We're glad he's with us."

Calabria, 42, began working for Massimino at Keiser, a school of roughly 600 students that sits on a 100-acre campus, this past August. He was a head coach for a professional team in Italy last year, but due to "a few problems" he resigned after 45 days. He had previously served as an assistant at North Carolina-Wilmington (2011-13) and was the head coach of an auxiliary team at prep powerhouse Montverde Academy (Fla.) in 2014-15. One of his pupils was LSU freshman phenom Ben Simmons, the likely first overall pick in the NBA draft.

"Phenomenal player; can do everything," Calabria said of Simmons. "If he ever gets to where he can knock down his jump shot consistently, he'll be incredibly dangerous."

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Calabria's launch into coaching came on the heels of a college and professional playing career that spanned 19 years, including 15 overseas and four at North Carolina, where he was part of a national championship squad in 1993.

Massimino said Calabria will soon oversee his own program. And he would know. The 58-year coaching veteran has sent nearly two-dozen assistants into the coaching ranks.

For his part, Calabria is taking things one day at a time.

"I'm just kind of going with what occurs right now," he said. "I left a pretty good situation with Montverde to go to Europe and be a head coach. I thought it would be a great experience and a great chance, but it turned out not to be that way. I just want to keep learning now and see where things go."

Massimino and Calabria first forged their relationship 25 years ago. That's when Massimino feverishly recruited Calabria out of Blackhawk, where the former sharpshooter led the Cougars to three WPIAL Class AAA titles and one PIAA crown. They were re-acquainted by mutual friend and now-deceased Ernie Hobbie, a former coach who was known as "The Shot Doctor."

Massimino brought Calabria in as a volunteer assistant three years ago and they've stayed close since. Massimino has even forgiven Calabria for passing on Villanova.

Sort of.

"My wife doesn't make him pasta as much as she normally would," Massimino said, laughing. "And when she does, I tell her to over-cook it."

Massimino came out of retirement in 2006 to start the Keiser program – formerly Northwood University – from scratch. The start of this season has been unprecedented.

Keiser opened with a 19-1 record and entered the week with a 19-2 mark and No. 7 national ranking. The high-powered offense had scored 100 points three times and had scored in the 90s on four occasions.

Calabria said the appeal of Massimino, who entered the week with 246-51 career record at Keiser, is fascinating. It has become commonplace for celebrities such as hockey legend Bobby Orr, basketball great Bob Cousy, former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, television analyst Bill Raftery or cast members from "The Sopranos" to show up for games at Keiser.

"I'll have conversations with these people, and it's amazing," Calabria said. "It's a great experience for the kids, too. They might not know who some of them are, so I try to explain it to them and tell them that they should really enjoy all of this."

Inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame two years ago, Calabria still reminisces about his days at Blackhawk, where he scored 2,252 career points. The Cougars went 32-1 in his senior season and 62-2 in his final two years.

"People ask me what my best memories are from the sport – and it was pretty cool what we did at Blackhawk," he said. "The great thing is, most of us grew up together, so we were really close. I've been lucky to be around a lot of great people – coach John Miller at Blackhawk, coach [Dean] Smith and [assistant] Bill Guthridge at North Carolina, coach Mass. It's been a nice run. I'll wait and see where it takes me from here."

First Published: January 29, 2016, 5:00 a.m.

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Dante Calabria, a former Blackhawk High School star, is a basketball coach at Keiser University in Florida  (Photo submitted)
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