MIke Zhe, Seacoastonline.com
PORTSMOUTH — After 27 years coaching boys basketball at St. Thomas Aquinas, Danny Parr is changing schools.
And sports.
On Monday, Parr, a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, was named the new girls basketball coach at Portsmouth High School, where he has been on the faculty for 41 years. He replaces Eric Chasse, who stepped down after three seasons to devote more time to his family.
“I thought it would be a good fit for me,” Parr said. “I wasn't unhappy at all at St. Thomas. They've been pretty good to me.”
Portsmouth athletic director Rus Wilson said Parr, 71, was one of seven candidates interviewed for the position after expressing interest in it early last week, and that his experience and his teaching position at the school made him stand out.
“We're extremely pleased,” Wilson said. “If we had to look around the state for someone that's more respected and more knowledgeable about basketball, I don't think we'd find anyone. We think we hit a home run with this one.”
For St. Thomas, it's the second loss of an institutional Hall of Fame coach in barely half a year. Rod Wotton, who holds the mark for all-time wins by a New England high school football coach, stepped down in December, citing health and a desire to spend more time with his seven grandchildren. He was replaced by assistant coach Eric Cumba.
Parr said he spoke to St. Thomas athletic director Jack Leary by phone this weekend to inform him of his decision, and met with him in person Monday morning.
“He and I have been real solid and together and friends,” Parr said. “I have a lot of respect for him and what he does. It was a difficult meeting. It was emotional. ... It wasn't an easy choice, but I made it.”
Parr coached one year of girls basketball in 1983-84, taking over a fledgling Portsmouth girls program two years after he was controversially asked to step down as the boys basketball coach there.
“To be honest,” he said, “I can't remember much about that year except they were in transition. They didn't have an established program. I don't think there will be any kind of carryover at all.”
Parr called his decision to change positions “complex,” citing things like the practical aspects of coaching where he teaches and lives — he and his wife, Sue, are longtime Rye residents — and the fact that his returning players at St. Thomas, which he feels will form the nucleus of a good team, could benefit from a new voice.
“I wasn't looking for this,” Parr said. “I got a call from (Wilson) and he indicated that the job was open and, since I did teach here, would I have some interest.”
Parr, who was part of the first class inducted into the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1994, has won more than 600 boys basketball games and five state championships during lengthy stops at St. Thomas, Portsmouth and Hopkinton high schools.
The Clippers went 12-7 last winter, losing to Windham in the first round of the Division II tournament. In three years under Chasse, they compiled a record of 42-17.
Parr said he's been asked often in recent years how long he wants to continue coaching and teaching, and his response is that he doesn't see it stopping anytime soon. He teaches sociology and psychology on a part-time contract at PHS.
“I've said this for years: I still feel the way I felt 15 years ago — physically and, I hope, mentally,” said Parr. “I'm still looking forward to it.”
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