For the past eight seasons Tom Catalanotto has been the man leading the charge turning around the Msgr. Scanlan girls basketball team and turning it from a once bottom dweller to being considered among the best teams in New York City led by the likes of Nukiya Mayo, Kateri Poole, and Imani Harris during his tenure.

After much thought though Catalanotto is on the move as he has resigned from his position at Msgr. Scanlan and will now be the first ever girls’ varsity basketball coach at Holy Cross.

This wasn't an easy decision to make according to Catalanotto, who says he officially accepted the position at Holy Cross on Thursday morning, but there was just a feel he had that he was ready for the next challenge in once again hopefully making something special from nothing.

"When I went to Scanlan 8 years ago they hadn't won a game in ten years and now 8 years later we wound up in the CHSAA State Finals 3 times and we were the top dog in the Archdiocese for the past five seasons," Catalanotto explained. "I like the challenge and I just felt it was time to move on to that next challenge."

This won't be Catalanotto's first rodeo in the Brooklyn/Queens Diocese as well as he was a part of helping Archbishop Molloy's first few seasons after they turned co-ed, helping develop and mold future stars there such as Rosalyn Gold-Onwude and Jessica McEntee.

Going to Holy Cross he sees as a very similar situation as Holy Cross just went co-ed two years ago and are on the verge of their first varsity season come November, 2020, and while it may not be easy at first, Catalanotto says the administration’s commitment to girls basketball, and his experience in starting up programs has him excited to get going.

"I spoke to the AD at Holy Cross in Keith Goggin and he is excited and I know the Assistant AD there in Tim Gilvary very well and everyone is very excited about girls’ basketball," Catalanotto said. "It's a challenge absolutely but I like to think I made a difference at Molloy and at Scanlan and I hope I can make a difference in these kids’ lives here at Holy Cross as well."

According to Catalanotto, the Knights will go into the A Division next season in the CHSAA though he believes that designation will be a very short lived arrangement as he wants to play against the very best and build the strong rivalries against the likes of Molloy, St. Francis Prep, and Christ the King like the boys program has.

Happy to now call himself apart of the Holy Cross family, Catalanotto says he wants it to be clear that he is proud of everything he accomplished at Msgr. Scanlan and very few opportunities could've made him want to leave, but this is a situation going back into Queens that he feels he couldn't turn down, excited now to just see what the future holds for this true start-up girls basketball program that will get its first taste of varsity basketball this winter.

"It's not me running from Scanlan a tall, it's me running to Holy Cross," Catalanotto strongly stated. "I love the Brooklyn/Queens Diocese, I love the rivalries, and I'm very excited to be back here with Holy Cross."