It makes sense that Doug Sawitzky is the new coach of the Marshall Statesmen’s girls varsity high-school basketball team. He knows both the school and the hoop programs very well.
Sawitzky has worked at Marshall as a faculty member for a number of years. In addition, he has been an assistant basketball coach at the school for either the girls or boys program for 15 seasons. He was the girls junior-varsity coach the last two years.
“Doug has a wealth of experience coaching basketball at Marshall,” school director of student activities Joe Swarm said. “He has learned under three incredibly successful [head] coaches.”
Sawitzky worked the last two years under Mike Trivisonno, who was the girls varsity head coach for nine seasons, winning more than 100 games and three Liberty District and two 6D North Region championships.
In the boys program, he coached under Dan Hale and Jerry Lin. Hale’s teams won three district titles with Sawitzky on his staff. Sawitzky’s overall four-season record as a junior-varsity coach was 48-7.
“They made a great choice in naming Doug as head coach,” Trivisonno said. “He is a first-class guy and is well-liked.”
Sawitzky is a 2008 graduate of Chantilly High School then earned an undergraduate degree from George Mason University, graduating in 2012. He also has coached AAU basketball for many seasons with the NOVA Cavaliers program.
“I know and have coached a lot of the players at Marshall, so there will be a lot of continuity with me taking over, and they know what to expect from me,” Sawitzky said.
Tryouts and practice for the 2024-25 Marshall team begin Nov. 11. The season starts Dec. 3 with an opening road game against the Robinson Rams. Marshall will play in two tournaments in December, the first at South Lakes High, then a holiday classic at Mount Vernon High.
Trivisonno said he had been considering stepping down for a couple of years, but made the decision to do so at the end of July when his business partner retired, then his workload at his full-time job increased.
“I wouldn’t trade the nine years at Marshall for anything,” Trivisonno said. “We had some great wins and memories, and so many exciting moments.”
Trivisonno’s twin daughters, Mary and Christine, were members and big contributors on those district and region championship teams.They will graduate from Washington University in St. Louis in May, having played college basketball for a while at the school.
