Matt Cognetti knows that following a coaching legend will not be easy, but he is ready to accept the challenge.
On Monday night, the Scranton School District Board of Directors appointed Cognetti the head boys basketball coach. He replaces Tony Battaglia, who announced a sabbatical from teaching and coaching in April. He guided the program for 27 seasons and had a career record of 405-259.
Scranton won seven Lackawanna League Division I championships; five straight District 2 Class 6A titles from 2021 to 2025; and eight Lynett Memorial Basketball Tournament championships in Battaglia’s tenure.
“I am really looking forward to the upcoming season and working with my assistant Mike Weeks, who has been with me for 10 years,” Cognetti, 39, said. “We put in a lot of time. We didn’t skip any steps. This is how we wanted to do this, working together up through the ranks. Tony gave us an opportunity, and we are going to take this and run with it.”
Before joining the Scranton varsity staff, Cognetti served as an assistant coach for the boys and girls programs at Northeast Intermediate School. He was also the head coach of the boys freshman team.
On Battaglia’s staff, Cognetti was the head coach for the junior varsity team.
“I owe Tony a lot,” Cognetti said. “I wouldn’t be here without the opportunity he gave me five years ago. We experienced a lot together, winning district and Lynett championships. I think that has put me in a great spot to walk in, and there will be a smooth transition.
“Coaching JV, you have to be on your toes. You have to make quick adjustments in the game and get guys better so they can play at the varsity level. We had a development-first mindset. We weren’t thinking wins and losses as much as we were getting players ready so they could thrive at the varsity level.”
Last season, Scranton finished 7-16 and had its streak of five straight District 2 Class 6A championships ended with a loss to Hazleton Area in the quarterfinals.
This summer, Scranton’s team captured the high school elite postseason championship at the Riverfront Sports Complex with a win over Holy Cross in the final.
“The guys were anxious to be in the gym coming off of last season,” Cognetti said. “We lifted and had open gyms. We wanted to focus this summer on our transition offense and transition defense. We played a lot better in the last three games than we did in the first three. We saw a lot of progress. We had some guys who really did some nice things for us, and we are excited.”
Cognetti will be the fourth new head coach in the Lackawanna League. Christian Sunseri is at North Pocono. Errol Mannick is at Mountain View. Tyler Watters is at Lakeland.