It’s the end of an era for Massachusetts high school basketball.
Cohasset boys basketball coach Bo Ruggiero confirmed to the Herald that he officially stepped down from his position in the middle of the season due to “personal family health matters.”
“I’m thankful for my time with the program,” Ruggiero said. “It was an amazing 17 years, and while we had lots of success and wins as a team, being with these kids was the best part.”
Ruggiero began his coaching career at Medfield in 1967 and also had stops at King Philip, Taunton and Foxboro wile also having a stint at Bridgewater State. He also served as an assistant coach at Boston College and was the head basketball and baseball coach at Newton Junior College. He won more than 100 games at Medfield, Foxboro, Bridgewater State and Cohasset.
He is also an inductee of the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1992) and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame (2015). He was also a six-time MBCA Coach of the Year recipient and served as the president of that organization.
Ruggiero finished his career with 588 wins at the high school level and 706 overall career victories. He had been at the helm for Cohasset since 2008 and helped lead the program to a state championship appearance in 2011.
He led his teams to 37 state tournaments and had 11 seasons in which his teams won more than 20 games. He led Cohasset to the tournament in 15 out of his 17 full seasons with the school, including 14 consecutive, dating back to 2011. He won 265 games total with the Skippers.
The Skippers are currently 3-4 on the season and were rated as the No. 22 team in Div. 4 in the MIAA’s latest power rankings. The athletic department did not respond to a request for comment.
Cohasset’s next game is scheduled for Tuesday when it takes on South Shore League foe Norwell. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Norwell High School. The Skippers’ first home game without Ruggiero at the helm will be Jan. 23 against Randolph.
