Brian Kostiw- At the conclusion of the 2017-18 SHS Boys Basketball season, Sutton had just witnessed one of the all-time greatest runs in school history. Falling just one game shy of the State Final, the team would leave the court at AIC, Springfield after falling to East Hampton 75-72. To the dismay of many players, fans, and residents of the town, Head Coach Jim Donnelly announced that after more than a decade of coaching for Sutton, he would not be returning. Instead, he will trade the green & white for maroon as he accepts his new coaching job with Millbury High. This move leaves SHS with an opening not seen for some time. After a very thorough search, the answer finally arrived. The Auburn High Rockets boys basketball head coach, Andy Niedzwiecki, was selected to take the reigns as the next coach of the Sammies. Niedzwiecki, an SHS alum is a member of the 1,000 point scorers list with 1,005. In addition to basketball, he was a member of Varsity Soccer for 4 years and Varsity Baseball team for 2. He also was the class of 1995 treasurer during his sophomore and junior years, served on the yearbook staff, and made NHS. After graduating in 1995, Niedzwiecki did a postgraduate year at Worcester Academy. There, he tore his left ACL during his 3rd practice but was able to secure a full scholarship to Assumption College, signing a scholarship letter a week earlier at SHS, among friends and family. He would start at point guard for Assumption for the next 4 years and would end up finishing 2nd in career assists. His first coaching gig was coaching the Sutton summer league team while at Worcester Academy and Assumption. Coach Niedzwiecki says that “I credit late Coach Romasco for giving me that opportunity and for helping guide me into education and coaching.” After that, he took a volunteer coaching position at Holy Cross for 2 years. During his tenure, they won back to back Patriot League Tournament Championships in 2001 &’02, which qualified them for the NCAA Basketball Tournament. They would play the University of Kentucky and the University of Kansas but lost both times. In 2003, Niedzwiecki was offered the Auburn High Varsity Basketball coaching position. He accepted and has been there for the past 15 years. During his Rockets career, Coach Niedzwiecki would win some Southern Worcester County League Championships, a Clark Tournament Championship, and made the MIAA District Finals in 2014. That year he would be named the 2014 Division 3 Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. As of last season, he lead a young team into the first round of the SWCL Playoffs. His decision to leave Auburn and coach SHS was a tough one saying, “I wasn’t looking to leave Auburn and never applied for another coaching position while at Auburn but the opportunity to coach at my alma mater was too good to pass up.” The decision was further influenced when Niedzwiecki and Jim Donnelly had some long talks regarding the matter. Niedzwiecki said, “He and I felt that it was the right time for a change for both of us.” Now as our coach, he praises SHS, saying “Sutton Basketball has been an outstanding program with Coach Romasco resurrecting the program and Coach Donnelly building on that success. Basketball excellence has been a tradition at Sutton ever since I was in high school and I’m looking forward to being a part of that tradition again.” With each day passing marking another day closer to basketball season, Coach Niedzwiecki began talking about his expectations for the 2018-19 run and explained the goal for the upcoming season is to field a competitive team that keeps the tradition of basketball excellence alive. “Our team will work hard and work together in competing for a League, Clark, District, and State Championship”. State, he acknowledged is, “the ultimate goal."
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