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Tom Keyes was named the new boys basketball coach at Norwalk High School on Monday. And he has two Stamford coaches to thank for helping him get the opportunity.
Keyes, 29, was tabbed Monday by athletic director Wayne Mones to take on the task of rebuilding the Bears. Keyes worked for a year as an assistant to Howard White at Westhill High School. He joined the Vikings after Stamford's Jim Moriarty, who Keyes sought out at meeting among social studies teachers in Stamford, told him to consider pursuing it. Keyes is a teacher at Rogers International School in Stamford.
Keyes was also the head coach for the High School of Applied Communication in Queens, N.Y. The Long Island, N.Y., native was also the student manager of the men's basketball team at Marist College.
"It's a great opportunity, and it's a great conference,'' Keyes said. "Ever since I was 12 or 13 years old, my goal was to coach basketball at the highest level in high school. That's how I feel about this conference. Norwalk has the ability to compete at the highest level."
He takes over for Bobby Trimboli, who left after four years. Norwalk went 4-16 last season.
Keyes comes to Norwalk after a year at Westhill, where he helped the Vikings finish 15-3 in the league and 18-7 overall. "I learned an enormous amount in just one year,'' said Keyes, a resident of Fairfield. "When I was the head coach, I never got to sit and watch as an assistant. I learned a lot from Howard. He and Mike King (the Westhill athletic director) encouraged me to pursue this opportunity. They both gave me a lot of confidence that this was the right move."
Mones said 16 candidates applied for the position and the field was whittled to three finalists. Keyes' experience, his teaching background and his commitment to dedicate time year-round to building the program made him the preferred candidate. "We needed someone who was going to come in and galvanize the program,'' Mones said. "Plus, he's in it for the long haul. Coaching high school basketball is what he wants to do."
One of Keyes' first objective is to keep players in Norwalk. Many youngsters have opted to attend nearby private schools to pursue their basketball dreams. Keyes is hoping to change that. "People who get to know me know if they come here they'll get good coaching and good academics,'' he said. "I'm looking forward to meeting the young players and the youth league coaches. I want them to say 'I want to play for Coach Keyes.'''
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