WINTHROP — The Winthrop girls basketball program has found its new coach. Winthrop Athletic Director Matt Serino announced that Joe Lowe will take over the helm of the Vikings. A Saugus native, Lowe has spent the past two seasons with the Sachems boys basketball team as an assistant coach under Mark Bertrand.
Lowe, 26, is excited to take on his first head coaching position.
“I was super excited,” Lowe said when he learned of his appointment. “I just moved here to Winthrop, raising a family in the town. The group of girls coming back are great kids and great basketball players. I was really grateful for the opportunity. I’m ready to start working with them.”
Lowe, who teaches physical education at Winthrop High, takes over for interim coach Rick Pulsifer, who guided a young Vikings team to an 8-12 record this past winter. Winthrop was just one win short of qualifying for the state tournament under the Sullivan Rule.
“They lost quite a few games by five, six points,” Lowe said. “As they’re maturing and becoming juniors and seniors, they can only go up, really.”
Winthrop returns the bulk of last winter’s team next season, meaning Lowe gets the chance to coach a group of experienced players.
“I’m very fortunate to have five returning starters,” Lowe said. “We have an all-Northeastern Conference player returning in Maura Dorr. We have a NEC all-star returner in Lily Pulsifer. I have five juniors coming back who’ve played varsity basketball for two years. That’s not common. I have a couple seniors coming back, there’s a lot of talent in the sophomore group as well as the JV team. I think we’ll be pretty well stocked.
“I’ve been able to develop good relationships with the girls,” Lowe said. “I felt it was a good opportunity to jump on board and hopefully navigate them to some success.”
Lowe played three years of varsity basketball at Saugus for coaches Titus Manderson and Paul Moran. He graduated from Saugus High (2010) and Salem State (2014).
From coaching with Bertand over the past two seasons, Lowe has learned the value of building a community within a basketball program. He hopes to bring those lessons with him as he starts a new chapter at Winthrop.
“The biggest thing I learned from Bertand is the way he involved his alumni, the way he welcomes people back,” Lowe, who also coaches Winthrop’s JV girls lacrosse team, said. “He always has an open door for alumni to come back and help in any way they can. He organizes alumni games. The way he works with his coaches, he’s always looking to gain knowledge from his coaches. On the court, coaching, competing, every play is big for him. Being a smaller school in Saugus he stresses fighting every possession. That’s what I pull from Bertrand.
“I’m going to miss Saugus,” Lowe said. “There are a lot of great coaches in that building. I see a lot of similarities in both towns. I’m excited to get in here and kind of make my own mark in Winthrop.”
