Kezmarsky enters 20th year as Red Raiders coach
Key players for Uniontown's boys basketball team are (front row, from left) Calvin Winfrey III, Tevian Richardson, Tanner Uphold, Notorious Grooms, (back row, from left) Evan Townsend, Levi Gardner, Kadrian McLee and Christian Perkins. Not pictured is Bakari Wallace.
Uniontown's Bakari Wallace slices between Belle Vernon's Quinton Martin (5) and Devin Whitlock during a game last season at A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium. Wallace, a junior, is the Red Raiders' top returning scorer.
Uniontown head coach Rob Kezmarsky (left) and assistant coach Warare Gladman.
Uniontown's Christian Perkins shoots as Evan Townsend defends during practice.
Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky keeps watch as Calvin Winfrey (right) defends Notorious Grooms during practice.
Many expected Uniontown鈥檚 boys basketball team to slip drastically last season after losing its entire starting five and top seven players overall.
Even with only a total of 24 career points returning, the Red Raiders managed to go 6-6 in Section 3-AAAA.
Rob Kezmarsky enters his 20th season as Uniontown head coach with a team he feels is trending upward.
鈥淟ast year鈥檚 group took over for a team that lost eight seniors and they did a good job and played hard during the COVID year,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淲e were very proud of them.
鈥淲e鈥檙e real excited for this year鈥檚 team. We feel we can be very good. We had a very successful summer program. We did very well in the Greensburg Central Catholic fall league. We have high expectations like always.
鈥淥ur goal isn鈥檛 just to compete. We want to fight and beat as many teams as possible.鈥�
Kezmarsky has a bit more experience coming back for the 2021-22 campaign, led by 5-foot-10 junior Bakari Wallace who averaged 13 points per game last season.
鈥淛ust to give you an example of his potential, he scored 25 points in one half against Belle Vernon,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淏akari will be one of the top players in the section.
鈥淗e leads by example every day in practice because he plays as hard as he possibly can. He鈥檚 going to be a scorer for us but he鈥檒l get rebounds, too.鈥�
Christian Perkins, a 6-2 senior, battled through an early-season injury last season but is healthy now and is the Red Raiders鈥� main inside player.
鈥淐hristian is a two-year starting center who has really improved,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 really been finishing. He鈥檚 an experienced player. Some of the games we lost last year were when he got in foul trouble or when he was out injured.鈥�
Levi Garner, a 6-4 junior, could help out underneath as well.
鈥淟evi鈥檚 an athletic player who gives us some size and had very good summer and fall leagues,鈥� Kezmarsky said.
Uniontown returns 6-1 senior Evan Townsend, who was the Red Raiders鈥� quarterback in football.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a good 3-point shooter who had some very big shooting games for us last year,鈥� Kezmarsky said.
鈥淭anner Uphold (5-10 junior) is another returning player. Every game he guarded the other team鈥檚 best player and had a great year for us.鈥�
Two more sophomore contributors should be 6-3 Jeremiah Hager and 6-3 Kadrian McLee.
鈥淛eremiah started JV last year and can really shoot the three,鈥� Kezmarksy said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a dedicated basketball player. Kadrian is a very good rebounder who runs the court well.鈥�
The Red Raiders also have a pair of highly regarded freshmen in Calvin Winfrey III and Notorious Grooms.
鈥淲e鈥檙e counting on Notorious and Calvin to help us this year,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hey do everything they鈥檙e supposed to from playing AAU to working out. They worked so hard in the offseason like all our other players have, never missing an open gym.
鈥淐alvin is a point guard and 3-point shooter who is explosive in the open court. Notorious will have an impact. He鈥檚 also a 3-point shooter who is very good in the open court.鈥�
Seniors Devin Miles and Kole Fullem round out the varsity roster.
鈥淲e have a nice balance of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors that are all going to contribute,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淲e may have seven or eight kids who could start on any given night. This is one of the deepest team we鈥檝e had. We could probably play nine or even 10 kids a game.鈥�
With good depth, Kezmarsky would like to amp up Uniontown鈥檚 defense a little more this season.
鈥淲e going to play more of a pressing style with a lot of full-court man,鈥� he said.
Kezmarsky sports a career record of 284-144 with the Red Raiders, which includes a section mark of 172-67 for a 72 percent winning percentage that has led to 10 section titles, giving the program a WPIAL-best 49 overall to go with 70 playoff appearances, also a WPIAL record.
Kezmarsky has 305 coaching wins overall.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy to think this is my 20th year because I still get nervous before the first practice, and I still love coming to practice,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淢e and (assistant coach) Warare (Gladman) have been doing this a long time but we both still have the energy we had when we first started.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the players, too.聽When you have so many kids that have worked so hard and are ready to get at it, that鈥檚 what keeps you enthusiastic.鈥�
Kezmarsky reflected on all the players he鈥檚 coached at Uniontown.
鈥淚t鈥檚 funny how I look at things, like I went to Nate聽Guerriere鈥檚聽wedding and the first thing I thought about is he took two big charges at Ambridge in a 2014 playoff game the year we made the WPIAL final four.鈥�
That was Kezmarsky鈥檚 best team, record-wise, as the Red Raiders went 19-1 in the regular season and wound up 22-3 overall.
鈥淭hat was a memorable team,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e beat Ambridge and EF, which was loaded that year, in the playoffs and lost a tough game to Chartiers Valley. We won a state game that year, too.
鈥淭here have been a lot of good games. The group we had two years ago was a great team also. It鈥檚 nice to look back. We鈥檙e blessed and lucky to have coached so many good players over the years. We just want to continue to keep winning and add to the storied history here.鈥�