New Mooney basketball coach wants all-out defensive effort

Coming from a family of teachers, Clayton Slentz knew from the fourth grade he wanted to follow his family's path. 

Even if he did not, he said, there's only so much you can do with a history degree. 

It was only natural, then, that basketball — one of the constants in Slentz's life — would follow suit. He took the next step in his career May 28 when he was named the boys basketball coach at Cardinal Mooney High. Slentz had been an assistant coach with the program for three seasons, under Mike Urban for two and John Luzzi for one.

Slentz, who teaches AP U.S. History at the school, said the Mooney job fit everything he wanted. 

"Opportunities like this do not come around often," Slentz said. "Not only is this a great program, but it has a great community surrounding it. I've only been here a short time (compared to others), but it is easy to see that Cardinal Mooney is special. Everyone is supportive."

Slentz has been involved in basketball at some level since he was in high school at Melbourne Central Catholic, where he played under coach Rob Terry, who stepped down in March after 20 years at the school. Once graduated, Slentz volunteered at Terry's summer basketball camps for the next eight years.

Slentz said Terry taught him how to run a program.

"The Xs and Os, that's the easy stuff, honestly," Slentz said. "If you want to have a successful program, you need to know how to instill and give respect. You need to know how to treat people right. On my teams, I would rather have kids that play the right way and have bench decorum and do not complain to the officials than kids that can make a left-handed layup."

Slentz said he's lucky, in that Mooney already has a strong, established culture. He's not going to tweak too much of what was working, he said, instead keeping the same basic style of play — out-hustling opponents with aggressive defense — while adding his own twists.

Slentz said he expects next year's team to be guard-heavy, but he's excited about all the young players he has to mold. Slentz said he does not know who will emerge as an on-court leader, but he knows someone will, and that's exciting. 

Slentz is a believer in fitting his system around the players he has at his disposal, not vice versa. When the season rolls around, he said, he will evaluate the talent and decide best how to use it. For now, Slentz, like other coaches, is limited to giving his team at-home instruction.

He is talking with Mooney's administration daily, he said, to figure out a plan for team workouts. Things remain fluid, but Slentz believes things will likely begin with outdoors conditioning workouts before moving to gym workouts with small groups of players. 

Slentz is excited to get to work and see his players in person, both veterans and new ones. But prospective players should know Slentz is focused on one thing. 

"I'll say this: If you don't want to play defense, don't come to Mooney for basketball," Slentz said. "It's not going to work out for you."