As a Division 1 basketball prospect growing up as a New Hampshire native, Luke Rosinski was well aware of Brewster Academy’s greatness and tradition as one of the top prep programs in the country. He even saw it firsthand, on the other side.
For two years, Rosinski played at Kimball Union, which featured annual meetings with Brewster. He recalled nearly beating the powerhouse school as a senior. As a junior, he remembered a jaw-dropping moment, when Jalen Adams stole the ball and threw it up between his legs to Donovan Mitchell, who jumped from just inside the free-throw line for a ridiculous dunk.
A decade later, Rosinski finds himself on that side. After a three-year coaching stint at Hargrave Military Academy, he’s returning home to lead Brewster’s next chapter. The school announced Friday that Rosinski will take over as its new head coach and director of basketball programs, which he described as a dream job as he begins his first stint as a head coach.
“I really love what I do and getting the opportunity to coach and lead at such a prestigious, great program with so much history and winning culture that’s held in such high esteem is really an honor,” Rosinski said. “I’m super excited just about being able to do what I love in a place that I love. I’m a New Hampshire guy, I’m a Granite State guy, I lived there pretty much my whole life until I moved down south to expand my ability in coaching and grow as a coach and learn. … I feel like I’m definitely ready for this opportunity.”
It’s the beginning of a new era at Brewster. After a legendary 26-year run, longtime coach Jason Smith departed in March to take the head-coaching job at the new Masters Academy International, which is opening this fall. When Rosinski learned that Smith was leaving, he reached out to Brewster about the job. It was an opportunity the young coach couldn’t pass up. Rosinski will lead the program and its four teams, which includes the top team returning to play in NEPSAC Class AAA.
“I’ve always wanted to be a head coach, always wanted to climb the ladder,” he said. “I’ve always seen myself as a prep head coach, especially in New England and at a place like Brewster. …
“The pedigree of the school, it’s always kind of been the gold standard of prep basketball, I would say, in terms of not just New Hampshire, not just the NEPSAC, not just New England, but the entire nation. It definitely is something that’s really special to me that is a really great honor.”
Even though he’s only 29, Rosinski has a wealth of experience and connections in both the college basketball and prep worlds that make him an ideal fit for the job. He knows the NEPSAC well, having graduated from KUA in 2016. He went on to play at the University of New Hampshire before embarking on his coaching career, which started as a graduate assistant at UNC Greensboro before spending the last three years at Hargrave, where he worked his way up as the program’s associate head coach.
At Hargrave, Rosinski’s responsibilities were all-encompassing. He learned how to recruit, did film work, made highlights for his players, created connection bases for colleges and helped them get placed. In his three years at Hargrave, the program had a 109-27 record, which included a 40-7 mark this season as they won the conference championship of the Elite Prep League and made a third consecutive Sweet 16 in the national prep tournament.
“As a coach, I believe in servant leadership, so I really care about all my players and want to help them succeed, so that’s probably the biggest thing that excites me the most is helping these young players succeed both on and off the court and in life,” Rosinski said. “And of course, winning. Winning is a lot of fun, building something. I’m someone who’s a builder, so I love working hard, I love building something special, so that’s definitely something that I really want to do at Brewster, to continue the great years it’s had and to continue to build on that legacy.”
Rosinski fully understands that standard he’s walking into and the footsteps he’s following. Over the last 26 years, Smith built Brewster into one of the best and most recognizable programs in the country as he won more than 700 games, seven national prep championships and seven NEPSAC Class AAA titles, and developed 25 NBA players. Rosinski knows the importance of keeping that standard high, but he wants to build the program his own way.
“It’s cool because I played against Jason Smith when I was a player. I have a lot of respect for him,” Rosinski said. “I would say, he’s Jason Smith and I’m Luke Rosinski, we’re different people. But I think everyone has their own way of doing things and way of running a program and things like that. Definitely continuing the excellence and the prestige of the program and keeping it to a high standard and pumping out high-level talent each and every year and drawing coaches into the gym, changing lives. Keeping that esteem of what Brewster Academy is and really doing it for the community, doing it for New England. I really want it to be New England’s program, I really want it to be a pride of New Hampshire, that kind of thing.”
Rosinski’s coaching philosophy is defined by five pillars that are very important to him. They include belief and trust, passion, disciple and accountability, mental toughness and love. Those were instilled by his dad, Peter, who was his coach at Pinkerton Academy, and expanded by a group of important coaching figures and mentors throughout his journey. That includes: T.J. Thompson, who was his coach for the D.C. Blue Devils New Hampshire AAU team and is now an assistant at Rutgers; Bill Herrion and the UNH staff he played for; Mike Jones, a former Shaka Smart assistant at VCU who Rosinski worked for as a UNCG grad assistant; Donny Lind, the head coach at Mount St. Mary’s who Rosinski worked directly for at UNCG; and Ahmad Thomas, Virginia’s director of recruiting who was instrumental in Rosinski’s going to Hargrave.
All those stops, connections and experiences played a vital role in Rosinski’s journey to Brewster, where he’ll begin officially on July 1. But the work has already started, with recruiting, building a coaching staff and connecting with alumni all among his priorities right now. He’s already working around the clock to build his new program.
“I’m a young guy, I’m 29 years old so I’m someone who’s a super hard worker, I’m willing to work day and night,” Rosinski said. “I’m a players’ coach, building a reputation as a great recruiter and getting in the weeds and building great relationships and I really want to tap into the alumni at Brewster and really make it New Hampshire’s program, New England’s program. I want everyone to be involved and for there to be a sense of pride in Brewster Academy.
“I’m going to work really hard every single day and work on keeping it in the high respect that it’s in, but obviously building on that, building on to something that I can build and leave my legacy. I’m definitely really excited about the opportunity and it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. I’m really grateful.”
