St. Rita shocker: Northwestern's Vic Law calls the ouster of basketball coach Gary DeCesare 'a joke'

After an outstanding career at Michigan, St. Rita graduate Charles Matthews is preparing for the NBA draft, which will be held on June 20.

Vic Law, another St. Rita grad, has similar dreams after leading Northwestern to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017.

Both attribute much of their success — on and off the court — to Gary DeCesare, their coach at St. Rita.

“He had a huge impact on me,” said Matthews, a 6-foot-6 guard. “He stressed the importance of hard work and treating people with respect. I wouldn’t be in the position or the person I am today without him.”

“Coming into high school I had talent, but I was immature,” said Law, a 6-7 forward. “I had no direction. He’s always been there to guide me. He instilled a sense of maturity and manhood into me.”

After 10 seasons, DeCesare was recently relieved of his position as director of facilities at St. Rita. It also put an end to his tenure as basketball coach, although he insisted he was never told that.

“To this day, they never told me I was no longer the basketball coach,” DeCesare said. “I was told my position as director of facilities was being eliminated for budgetary consideration. There was a budget deficit.

“The way the school went about it, I didn’t feel like I was treated as a person who worked there for 10 years. I was escorted to my office, had my keys and school ID taken from me, my email was shut off and I was escorted to my car. I wasn’t even allowed to talk to my team.

“It’s unfortunate the leadership didn’t live up to its core values of truth, unity and love.”

St. Rita sent out a press release naming Roshawn Russell, who guided the sophomore team last season, as its new coach. Russell will remain as the school’s athletic director.

Also leaving is former baseball coach Mike Zunica, who served as the school’s president the past two years. Zunica accepted a position at Brother Rice as its vice president of development and assistant to the president.

DeCesare had a 182-110 record during his tenure, which included five Catholic League titles and four regional championships. The Mustangs were 24-9 this season, including 13-2 in league play.

DeCesare’s impact, however, extended beyond the court.

The Mustangs traveled to Hawaii, Alaska, New Orleans, Las Vegas, New York, Toronto and the Bahamas to compete in tournaments.

“I’m a big believer in trying to incorporate lifelong experiences into the kids’ high school journey,” DeCesare said.

Dozens of his players went on to play college basketball.

Before arriving at St. Rita, DeCesare was an assistant coach at DePaul University and a coach at St. Raymond High School in New York.

Russell, a 2003 St. Rita graduate, acknowledged DeCesare’s positive impact on the program.

“Gary’s as accomplished a coach as we’ve ever had here,” Russell said. “He elevated the program to heights that we’ve never seen before. I’m excited. We have an opportunity to be very competitive in the coming year.”

Matthews, who averaged 12.2 points and five rebounds for Michigan last season, isn’t pleased at DeCesare’s firing.

“It makes no sense,” Matthews said. “He built that program. It doesn’t sit well with me at all.”

Law, who averaged 15 points and 6.4 rebounds for Northwestern last season, was in lockstep with Matthews’ sentiment.

“I’m still shocked,” Law said. “All of the things he has done for that school and the players, I thought him being let go was a joke. He loved us and always had our best interests at heart. I’ll always appreciate what he did.”