Scott Comes Back East

Joe Scott, a former three-sport star at Toms River High School East, has been named an assistant men’s basketball coach at Holy Cross and will begin his duties with the Crusaders on June 1. The 50-year old Pelican Island native posted a winning record as the head coach at the University of Denver for nine seasons but was let go in March. Prior to that Scott served as head coach at Princeton (2004-2007) and Air Force (2000-2004) and was an assistant at both Princeton and Monmouth University.

During part of his tenure at Princeton Scott was an assistant to current Holy Cross head coach Bill Carmody, who grew up in Spring Lake and graduated from St. Rose High School. That connection led Scott back east after spending nearly a decade in Denver and the two have known one another for many years.

Scott was a three-year starter at Princeton where he played for the legendary Pete Carril and earned 2^nd team All-Ivy League honors during his senior season when he served as Tigers captain. Prior to that he had an accomplished career at TR East where he played basketball, baseball and football and earned honors in all three.

He remains the leading scorer in Raiders basketball history and was inducted into the Toms River Schools Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Jersey Shore Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Scott is married to Leah Spraragen, who was a four-year starter for the women’s basketball team at Princeton and later an assistant coach there as well as Dartmouth and Arizona State. They have two sons, Ben and Jack and spend much of their summer in Pelican Island and on the beach in Seaside Park.