From Trading Stocks to Jump Shots: Getting to Know Peter Basel

One of the most important elements of being successful on Wall Street is the ability of knowing when to buy, and when to sell.

For boys basketball coach Peter Basel, he knew it was time to sell.

After graduating from Washington College in Maryland, Basel went to work on Wall Street.

“But I knew it wasn’t for me,” Basel said of his three years working in the financial district.

“I had some connections with family [on Wall Street],” Basel said of what initially landed him in the stock-market grind. But after working up the ranks of Wall Street, he knew it was time for a career change.

“It was taking years off my life, between taking the train and the commute," he said.

While attending graduate school, Basel began teaching history at Chaminade High School in Mineola, where he also jumped back into his basketball roots as one of the varsity assistants.

While attending Washington College, Basel played four years of basketball for the Shoremen, including a trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four his freshman year.

Despite the four years spent on the court as an undergrad, it was his fifth year at Washington College as a grad student that foreshadowed Basel’s current status as a coach.

“I decided to stay on and get a little taste of it while I took a couple of grad classes down there,” Basel said of his stint on the coaching staff down in Maryland.

Despite his family connections on Wall Street, Basel also had strong family ties with teaching and coaching as well.

“Both of my parents were teachers, so that was a little driving force behind it as well,” said Basel, who graduated from Washington College in 1994. “It was just a little later than sooner.”

After bouncing from the Chaminade program to his hometown of Garden City, Basel made a stop at Farmingdale State College before finally cementing himself as a permanent fixture as the head coach of the Thunderbirds in 2001.

“I applied for the basketball job, and that led into the teaching,” said Basel, who was the full-time basketball coach before establishing a permanent job in the physical education department.

For Basel, he understands that broadening the knowledge of basketball to his athletes isn’t a coach’s only responsibility.

“When we get these kids you just try and teach them the basics of life,” said Basel of the life lessons that are gelled together from playing on a team. “Like being on time, trusting one another, being responsible, being accountable and caring for one another; a lot of those little things become magnified on a team.”

Those “little” things, which most think just come as second-nature, are most prevalent not only during the good times, but the rough times as well.

“They’ve done a nice job of that this year,” Basel shared. “Last year the wheels kind of came off in a lot of those categories; you take it for granted.”

The Thunderbirds finished the previous season with a 5-13 record, losing their final seven games of the season.

This season, after getting out to a 6-0 start, the team struggled and finished with an 8-10 record and out of the playoffs. But despite the disappointing end to the season, team members are glad to playing for their coach

“He’s a great coach,” said senior Chris Corso. “He gets us all pumped up for the games and it’s great to play for him.”

Despite the hiccups over the final few games of the season, Basel continued to work hard and help his players learn the game he loves.

“You have to try to do new things and keep trying to motivate the kids. They’re like a sponge. Basketball is a long season, they want to try new things and we have to keep them inspired, keep them motivated and keep things fresh," he said.