The assistants and players who learned the McCool way and carried it across Northern Virginia and the state.
"He was one of the most decorated head coaches in the area for 25-plus years, and then he went on and helped his former assistant coaches for over 20 years. He turned into the greatest assistant coach ever." (Brian Metress)
McCool was known for assembling strong staffs and surrounding himself with great basketball minds. His coaching tree branches to all areas of the Northern Region and throughout the state. In a move few coaches have ever made, after retiring as a head coach he spent more than twenty years as an assistant to several of his own former assistants, passing the program forward rather than holding onto it.
Began his coaching career as an assistant under McCool at Mount Vernon in 1984, then carried the blueprint forward into one of the great coaching careers in the region. He coached at Centreville in the late 1980s, then built Hayfield into a power, reaching the state semifinals four times (state runner-up in 2000), before moving to Lake Braddock in 2001 and leading the Bruins to their first state-tournament appearance in school history. He won his 500th career game in 2020 and has since passed 530 victories, remaining the clearest voice on McCool's pressure defense and "nowhere to hide" practices.
Close friend who assembled the booklet that helped earn McCool's Hall of Fame induction.
Coached with McCool at West Springfield; led the Spartans to the 1991 state semifinals with the same quick, tough identity.
A member of McCool's coaching tree who became a fixture at Centreville High School, where he coached the Wildcats for years and shaped a generation of players, carrying McCool's standards into another Northern Virginia program.
Source: Connection Newspapers (2015). This page is built to expand, additional assistants and the programs they led can be added with their stories. For the players who came through the program, see Notable Players.