Justin Delgado and Tom Danehy didn’t follow the typical road to basketball coaching success. Delgado, a police officer, and Danehy, a sportswriter, have nonetheless shown that you don’t have to follow a script to be a winner.
Delgado’s Sunnyside High School girls basketball team is a robust 18-1 this season, having defeated traditional Tucson powers Flowing Wells and Sahuaro. Janae Pritchett, averaging 11.6 points, and Angelique Yanez, averaging 12 points, have made the Blue Devils a Class 6A powerhouse.
Sunnyside Head Coach Justin Delgado reviews the game plan with his team in a game against Nogales on Jan. 27, 2023.
Before arriving at Sunnyside, Delgado was the head football coach at Sells Baboquivari High. He has gone 88-31 in 4½ seasons at Sunnyside. Before him, the Blue Devils did not have a winning season from 2005-21.
Danehy, who coaches tennis as well as girls basketball at Amphi, has gone 63-45 in 3½ seasons. Before that, the Panthers had 21 consecutive losing seasons. The composition of his eight-member team is rare: “We have two African Americans, two Latinos, two Filipinos, and girls from Iraq and Tonga,” he says.
Kayla Tuakalau leads the Panthers, averaging a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds. Amphi, a 4A club, has beaten CDO, Sabino and Marana so far.
Amphi coach tom Danehy talks to his Panthers during a fourth-quarter timeout against Pueblo in their game at Amphitheater High School on Dec. 20, 2022.
Keep the names Danehy and Delgado in mind when Coach of the Year voting is held next month.
