Stonington

There is some irony here. This is Stonington, after all. Stonington, where boys' basketball coaches fall into the abyss. Stonington, on its sixth coach in the last 10 years, turning to, you know, one of Those People for salvation.

Those People. Them. Westerly. Ewww. A Westerly guy suddenly is Papa Bear? Sure. Seven coaches in 11 years anyone?

This might be a plausible theory. Until you meet John Luzzi. Mr. Upbeat (which is often hard for Italians, admittedly). More energy than Connecticut Light and Power. And he's - sorry to spew the cliche du jour in sports now - changing the culture in the land of brown and white, one "atta boy" at a time.

It is a culture that needed change. Six coaches in 10 years suggests pervasive dysfunction. Now, however, there are rules, consequences and accountability.

"He's great," junior Matt Donahue said of his third coach in the last three years. "Definitely way more involved with us. In practice, off the floor. He communicates with us. Texting and everything. He's really into it."

Young Mr. Donahue, whose shooting range extends to the hallways, is the best of the Bears, whose 2-7 record belies other improvements. They lost to Windham, 63-47 at home Tuesday, a night where the lament of lost opportunity replaced any negativity, finger pointing or other remnants of seasons past.

"I go back to the first day of tryouts," Luzzi was saying after the game. "That was the moment for me. I saw the ills of the past or whatever it may be. F-bombs, yelling at each other. This was tryouts. None of them were even going to make the team. And I got on them right there. They already knew the commitment to be made, the contract they were going to have to sign."

Luzzi made each of his players sign a contract that covered all the tentacles of playing basketball at Stonington. There are consequences for behavior detrimental to the team and their teammates. In and out of class. On and off the floor.

"It might not show in our record, but the guys are happy and they are playing hard," Luzzi said.

Luzzi, a Westerly High grad, came to Stonington after coaching at Clark Lane Middle School in Waterford. He spent time in Lancerville as the high school freshman coach and an assistant under varsity coach Greg Gwudz during Waterford's Class M championship season in 2012.

"In high school," Luzzi said, "I wasn't a big fan of Stonington. That was more in football than basketball, but still. I do have a connection here, though. I knew a lot of people. The transition was easy."

A few months into the job, he's still warm, fuzzy Luzzi. No complaints from the gallery.

"I know there were issues around here," Luzzi said. "But I didn't care. I was going to give it everything I had to make the program proud again. The parents have been supportive to the degree I communicate with them. The kids need to advocate for themselves. Things are handled here in the locker room, face to face."

Luzzi knows this will be a process. But that doesn't necessarily suggest the Bears can't win some games this season. They've already beaten Bacon Academy on a 35-point night from Donahue. There are teams remaining the Bears can beat. That's the goal.

"I want to win. And I think we have the team to do it," Luzzi said. "Early on, we had our adversity no question. I'm not here to make excuses. This game tonight was winnable, too. I'm not here to say we're rebuilding. I want to get to ECC tournament and the state tournament.

"But we know wins bring attention and we're still the struggling team. Our record is not where we want it to be. Excitement about basketball is not where we want it to be. But younger kids are playing and the future is bright."

Indeed. John Luzzi may be the guy, finally, to hang around for a while. The Westerly Guy. In Stonington. Who knew?

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius