How Seneca Valley boys basketball provides Steve Lodovico a chance to return to coaching
Steve Lodovico spent the last few months like he had for so many years, directing summer workouts for a varsity basketball team.
Those previous instances, however, came as head coach of Blackhawk’s girls. He's now preparing for his first season of leading Seneca Valley's boys onto the court.
Following the resignation of Kevin Trost, who stepped down following a 14-12 season that saw the Raiders qualify for the state playoffs for the first time in 13 years, Lodovico was first named a volunteer head coach at SV in June, then was formally approved by the school board in August.
In 18 seasons with Blackhawk (2005-2023), Lodovico compiled a 348-128 record while winning four WPIAL titles and two state titles.
The job at Seneca Valley will allow for less time constraints than his days with the Cougars.
“I live with my family in the Seneca Valley School District, in Forward Township,” Lodovico said. “I'm still a fourth-grade teacher at Blackhawk. When I resigned three years ago, I needed a break from the everyday (duties) that come with being a head coach, but I missed game nights.
“Coaching practices and games much closer to home will make things much easier on me and my family. I'm glad to be coaching at Seneca Valley. The players, parents and administration have been great.”
Lodovico and his wife, Becki, have three children. Daughter Maya is a junior on SV’s girls team. He coached his sons, Jase and Vinny, with SV’s youth program the last three years.
Lodovico takes over a Raiders program that graduated all five starters from last year and returns one letter winner in Luke West.
“We have a lot of inexperience, and it's going to take some time,” he said. “But I told our guys that this is a chance for them to go out and make a name for themselves.”
Lodovico played high school basketball for legendary Blackhawk coach John Miller. He was part of a district title and two state titles in the mid-1990s.
“I learned a lot from John,” he said. “We're going to come after you with an aggressive style of defense. Even if a team is better than us on paper, we're going to create tempo and won't fear anybody.”
After starring in college at La Roche (he was inducted into the Redhawks Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022), Lodovico spent one year as an assistant under Joe Lafko at Hampton and one season with Miller at Blackhawk.
“Obviously, the speed of the game and the height is a lot different between girls and boys. But at the end of the day, it's high school basketball and high school athletes.”
