Jun 25, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 3 min read

Bill Poletti’s name goes hand-in-hand with the McConnells.

In high school, the former Duquesne University football player started for Chartiers Valley’s boys basketball team under then-coach Tim McConnell.

Following his college career, Poletti assisted McConnell in basketball camps and worked for seven years in Grove City before taking a job on Kathy McConnell-Miller’s staff when she landed the gig as head coach of Trinity’s girls basketball team. McConnell-Miller is Tim’s sister.

McConnell-Miller resigned from her position at Trinity in May to become the women’s basketball head coach at Carnegie Mellon University, which provided Poletti the opportunity to succeed McConnell-Miller.

Poletti, who was hired Thursday, is eager to get started with the Hillers, but believes the McConnells prepared him well for his first head coaching job.

“I started for Tim’s team in the 2004 WPIAL championship game,” Poletti said. “I had worked in Tim’s camps and got my start in high school coaching with Kathy. I applied for the job about as quickly as you could when the job became available.”

McConnell-Miller had plenty of success coaching the Hillers, and even though five seniors graduated from last year’s team, Poletti is confident in his team.

“Being on the staff with Kathy helped me to work with the girls and get to know them, so that is going to be helpful,” Poletti said. “We are losing some solid girls who contributed in many ways, but I like what we have coming back and the girls are super committed, which makes it fun and easy to do my job.”

Poletti works at the school as a guidance counselor and believes being at school every day will help the team succeed on and off the court.

“Our whole staff is in the school and we want to help these girls develop and learn life lessons in addition to basketball,” Poletti said. “It is a joy everyday to be coaching, and I have been blessed with excellent mentors in my life.”

Trinity’s girls basketball team had a team-GPA of 3.72, which Poletti expects to continue under his watch.

“We have phenomenal academics at Trinity,” Poletti said. “I really don’t believe we will have any issues with that. We want well-rounded kids, and I believe Trinity is one of the best schools around at balancing academics, arts and athletics.”

Leadership at the top carries over to the staff, and Poletti says the Hillers are “fortunate” to have Ricci Rich as athletic director.

Rich was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Director of the Year in March for his contributions to the Hillers’ athletic program, which includes an Indoor Sports Performance Center and renovations at Hiller Field, the softball field and the high school.

Poletti is familiar with the Xs and Os of coaching, but the one new obstacle he faces is speaking with the media, however, McConnell-Miller prepared him for that, too.

“Kathy would have me close by when she spoke to the media so I can get an understanding of how interviews go and postgame duties,” Poletti said. “She really prepared me for everything that goes into being a head coach.”