ORINDA — Miramonte didn’t need to look too far to find its next boys basketball coach.
The Orinda school hired former Northgate coach Mike Shaughnessy to be its next head coach.
“I feel like it was a good fit for me,” Shaughnessy told the Bay Area News Group on Tuesday. “We live very close to Miramonte and we feel like we’re a part of the community. I’m excited to be back in the Diablo Athletic League.”
Shaughnessy’s hiring, which the school announced on Friday, comes a month after Miramonte parted ways with Chris Lavdiotis, who was the Matadors’ head coach for the past five seasons. Lavdiotis recently accepted a position to be the head coach at San Marin.
Shaughnessy led Northgate to a North Coast Section Open Division playoff berth in 2022. In three seasons, the New Jersey-born coach had a 37-33 record.
“After an extensive search and thorough evaluation of numerous highly qualified candidates, Mike emerged as a standout contender from the get-go,” Miramonte athletic director Sean Hennessy said in a statement. “Feedback from those who’ve crossed paths with him speaks volumes about his dedication, basketball knowledge, and ability to mold young men into cohesive teams.”
Shaughnessy stepped down as head coach this past season to help take care of his newborn daughter.
He did not stay completely away from basketball during that time as he continued his work as a basketball trainer and AAU coach.
“I am constantly involved with basketball,” Shaughnessy said. “I was going to games all throughout the year because I trained a ton of the best players in the area. Even though I wasn’t coaching, I was always following from afar.”
Miramonte finished this past season going 19-12 (6-6 DAL) and made it to the NCS Division semifinals. The Matadors will have an almost entirely new team next season as they will lose nine of its 17 players to graduation including leading scorer and All-DAL First Team Selection Marcus Robinson.
Shaughnessy will look to lead Miramonte to its first league title since 2009.
“We’ll get to a point where we can contend for section and league championships and hopefully make a run for the state,” Shaughnessy said. “That’s all a work in progress, but I believe we’ll get there at some point.”