Basketball – Central Hires Mike Clemente as Boys Basketball Coach

Mike Clemente, a former Central Regional standout and son of longtime Central coach Mike Clemente Sr., was approved as the new Golden Eagles varsity boys basketball coach Thursday night by the Central Regional Board of Education and Athletic Department.

Clemente will be the fourth coach in the last five years at Central after Steve Zengel stepped down at the end of this past school year. Clemente takes over a Central Regional team that went 12-11 during the 2014-15 season.

Clemente spent the last four seasons as an assistant under Rory Caswell at Toms River North, which has been one of the Shore Conference's top programs during that span. The Mariners reached the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals in both 2013 and 2015 and won 20 games each season, including a school record 25 wins in 2012-13.

Prior to landing at Toms River North, Caswell spent two seasons as an assistant under his father at Central before moving on to his collegiate alma mater, Moravian College, where he served as an assistant for two seasons. He also spent a season as an assistant at Keyport High School in 2010-11, where he also held a job as a teacher.

Clemente graduated from Central in 2003 with 1,098 career points and went on to play one season at Virginia Weslyan before transferring to Moravian, where he played the final three seasons of his college career.

Mike Clemente Sr. spent 31 seasons as the head coach at Central before stepping down following the 2011-12 season. Veteran Shore area coach Kurt Fenchel coached the Golden Eagles for one season and Zengel led the program in each of the last two seasons before stepping down after the school year.