When the 2025 basketball season ended, Joe Salvino knew his career as a basketball coach was over.
“I was satisfied with what I accomplished,” Salvino said. “Other than winning another PIAA title, I finished with my seventh WPIAL title.”
Salvino coached high school basketball for 41 years (34 at his alma mater Monessen and his last seven at Belle Vernon).
The veteran coach compiled at 745-313 record, ranking him second all-time for wins in WPIAL history.
Salvino has a couple of big honors coming. He will be inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame on June 5 at the Green Tree Double Tree Hotel.
Before that, Salvino will receive the Michael and John Ferrante Memorial Award for his work promoting sports and student-athletes at the 70th annual Westmoreland County Scholar-Athlete banquet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Ferrante’s Lakeview.
Salvino is part of the annual banquet that will honor 36 student-athletes, two each from the 18 high schools in the county, who were nominated for the Excellence Award, which is given to one boy and one girl.
The banquet is sponsored Judge Michael Stewart.
Other sponsors are Independence Health System, Drs. Geoff and Greg Bisignani and Ferrante’s Lakeview.
Salvino was a 1970 graduate of Monessen, where he played football and baseball. He coached football at Monessen for two years.
He established himself as one of the most successful coaches in WPIAL history. He guided his teams to multiple WPIAL and PIAA championships, capturing WPIAL Class A titles at Monessen in 1995, 2001, 2002, 2015 and 2017, a WPIAL Class 2A championship in 2011 and a WPIAL Class 4A championship at Belle Vernon in 2025.
“This is a very big honor,” Salvino said. “Any coach must have good assistants and players to be successful.
“If you win, players believe in what you are doing and will follow. You must have discipline, and parents knew where their kids were when they were with me.”
Salvino’s main goal as a coach was to teach young boys to become men.
“They did what had to be done,” Salvino said. “They learned life lessons.”
Salvino led the Greyhounds to back-to-back PIAA championships in 1988 and 1989.
He compiled 21 section championships with the Greyhounds, along with three section titles at Belle Vernon.
He was inducted into the Mon Valley Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Pittsburgh Basketball Club “Coaches” Hall of Fame in 2025.
Last year’s Excellence Award winners were Mt. Pleasant swimmers Lily King and Joseph Gardner.
This year’s guest speaker is Upper St. Clair football coach Mike Junko.
JOHN AND MICHAEL FERRANTE MEMORIAL AWARD WINNERS
1984: Frank Buscanics
1985: James Weir
1986: Robert Rodebaugh
1987: John Bacha
1988: Donald Hall
1989: Henry Funk
1990: Lawrence Dalla Betta
1991: Frank “Patsy” Malpezzi
1992: Oliver “Ollie” Molter
1993: Howard “Huddie” Kaufman
1994: Gary Garrison
1995: Robert Van Atta
1996: Ralph W. Snyder
1997: Ronald Peduzzi
1998: Joseph Mucci
1999: Judge Charles E. Marker
2000: William “Bill” Abraham
2001: Joseph E. Pellis
2002: Bob “Spike” Melago
2003: Ralph R. Conde
2004: Bob Trautwine
2005: William “Bill” Priatko
2006: James “Jim” Farrell
2007: Dave P. McNichol
2008: Ron Firment
2009: Gerald Page
2010: Patrick Ratesic
2011: Raymond Zsolcsak
2012: Tom Traynor
2013: Bob Murphy
2014: Carl Davis
2015: Art Tragesser
2016: Paul Schofield
2017: John Sullivan
2018: Bob Kalp
2019: Lynn Jobe
2020: Ron Colland
2021: Chuck Tursky
2022: Roy Hall
2023: LaRoyal Wilson
2024: Tom Evans
2025: Gene Brisbane