By Nathan Mayberg
SULLIVAN COUNTY — December 30, 2003 – Former Jeffersonville-Youngsville Central School boys’ basketball coach Paul Zintel will be inducted into the Basketball Coaches Association of New York Hall of Fame on Saturday, March 27, 2004 in Heritage Hall at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
In his 25 years (1959-1983) of coaching at J-Y, Zintel led his teams to eight Western Sullivan League titles, six Section IX titles and one regional championship.
For most of Zintel’s coaching career, New York did not hold a state tournament. In fact, New York was one of the last states to hold a state tournament, and Zintel was integral in the creation of the New York State Boys’ Basketball tournament in 1980. His team made it to the state tournament once before his retirement in 1983.
Zintel compiled a 348-126 record during his high school coaching days. He then went on to serve as coach and athletic director at Sullivan County Community College (SCCC), where he went 29-15 in a two-year stint.
He also spent 25 years as a basketball referee.
Zintel said it is “quite an honor for me to be going into the State Hall of Fame.”
He added that his squads were “mostly team-oriented.”
“That is what made us so good,” Zintel explained. “I taught players fundamentals. Teamwork was the whole secret, offensively and defensively.”
He also credited the work of assistant coach Jerry Davitt, who coached with him for over 21 years.
“We worked very close, he was good for our program,” Zintel said.
Zintel called Julio Alonso the best scorer he ever coached and the best in league history.
“He was the first to go over 1,000 points in the Western Sullivan League,” Zintel said. “He had over 1,400 points in his career.”
Coach Zintel was nominated for induction into the hall of fame by Fred Ahart, longtime boys’ basketball coach, football coach and athletic director at Roscoe Central School. Ahart said that Zintel met all five criteria for making the hall of fame. Three of those standards are years of service, win-loss percentage (Zintel’s was .734) and championship years.
Service and contributions was the fourth category. Zintel served as Section IX Basketball Chairman for 25 years. He was also on the New York State Basketball Committee for 25 years.
The final criteria Zintel had to meet was honors and awards. That was no problem for the legendary coach, who is a member of the East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University Hall of Fame, Sullivan County Wall of Fame at SCCC and Northeastern Pennsylvania Hall of Fame. In addition, he was named Coach of the Year by a local newspaper in 1971.
Zintel was also awarded the Dr. William Moran Service Award and the New York State Athletic Administrators’ Association Award.
Ahart has known Zintel for 35 years, ever since Ahart came to work for Roscoe Central School as a coach and AD.
“I believe that he is deserving [of this honor],” Ahart said. “I strongly believe that he meets the criteria as a successful coach.”
Ahart is the person to contact for tickets to the March 27 hall of fame ceremony. He can be reached at (607) 498-4126, ext. 135.
Several years ago, Zintel moved to Foley, Alabama. Since then he has spent much of his free time playing golf and volunteering as an assistant for the girls’ varsity basketball team at a local high school and as a consultant for the boys’ varsity team.
“I still have it in my blood,” he said of coaching the game of basketball.