Avery resigns as Tech hoop coach

LYNN – One of the most successful and colorful coaching careers in recent Lynn basketball memory came to an abrupt end Thursday when Lynn Tech?s Marvin Avery stepped down from the position, effective immediately.Avery, in a letter to Lynn School Superintendent Catherine C. Latham and Tech principal Diane Paradis, cited “personal and family reasons which I need to attend to at this time.” He would not elaborate in conversation with The Item, except to say “I expect to be back at coaching in the future.”Tech has only six games left in a season in which the Tigers have struggled to one victory. But records of recent seasons belie the majority of Avery?s years with the Tigers, which date back to the 1998-1999 season. From then until the 2011 season, the Tigers were an annual threat in the Division 3 North tournament … and sometimes beyond that.Four times in Avery?s tenure the Tigers won the Division 3 North sectional championship, and in 2002 the Tigers captured the Division 3 state championship.Avery also coached several players who went on to star in college, most notably Antonio Anderson, who, with the University of Memphis, reached the 2008 national championship game in the NCAA Division 1 men?s basketball tournament, losing to Kansas. Others included Tony Gallo and Corey Bingham.Both Bingham and Anderson were members of Avery?s 2002 state championship team.After serving as an assistant under Jim Ridley, Avery — who still works closely with Ridley in girls AAU basketball during the summer — became the head coach 15 years ago. In 2001, the Tigers squared off against Lynn Classical for the Division 3 North title on a day when five teams from Lynn were playing in Lowell — both St. Mary?s boys and girls, and the English boys as well.Tech beat Classical that day, and three days later won a close Division 3 state semifinal game at the TD Garden, after which Avery jumped onto the scorer?s table to lead the celebration. They lost, however, in the state final.The Tigers were back at the Garden a year later, after having defeated Watertown in the North final, then won at the Garden, and then defeated St. Joseph?s of Pittsfield to win the first state basketball title in Tech history.Avery and Tech had one more crack at a state championship in 2005. However, the Tigers fell in the title game to Whitinsville Christian.Tech proceeded to make the state tournament every year until 2012, going deep a few more times in the process. The Tigers? last appearance in a sectional final occurred in 2010 when the Tigers ran out of gas against Bedford, losing in overtime.Avery was known as a passionate and vocal coach on the sidelines. Twice his actions earned him suspensions — the last one a one-game “self-suspension” two years ago due to an off-court incident.Paradis met with Tech players and assistant coaches after school Thursday to inform them of Avery?s decision, and has appointed Geno Busa, a physical education instructor at Tech who is also the head boys lacrosse coach at Wakefield High, to be behind the Tech bench for the remainder of this season. He was not previously on the Tigers? basketball coaching staff. Busa attended Billerica High School and Curry College.?I felt that this would be the least disruptive option for the players,” Paradis said, adding that there will be no other changes to the staff at this time.She said the permanent job would be posted after the season.?We thank Marvin for his years of service and all the contributions he has made to student-athletes at Tech and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” Paradis said.