The 2026-27 high school sports season is a couple months away from beginning, and Southwest Florida schools are making changes to their coaching ranks.
Here are the updates to the coaching carousel you need to know.
If you have any coaching announcements to add, please email sports@news-press.com or sports@naplesnews.com.
St. John Neumann basketball coach John Wholihan retires
After 24 years coaching basketball at St. John Neumann, John Wholihan is putting down the clipboard.
Wholihan, who is battling leukemia, said his illness played a part in his decision.
“I have good days and bad days, but I got three grandkids so I’m looking forward to being with them and my family,” he said.
Wholihan said his leukemia came back in January, and he has gone through three cycles of chemotherapy.
“I feel good, just weak,” he said. “All in all, I can’t complain.”
After serving as an assistant and JV coach, Wholihan took over the boys basketball program for five seasons beginning in 2009 and then the girls’ team for seven years. Combined, he led his teams to a record of 167-105.
Wholihan’s best run came in 2022 when the girls’ team went 23-6 and won the program’s first regional final since 2008 to reach the Class 2A Final Four.
“I had a lot of good games there, a lot of good memories, but that’s the biggest one,” he said. “That was a great year.”
Wholihan helped produce eight 1,000-point scorers at Neumann.
“I just enjoyed coaching the kids, the boys and girls, and seeing them grow as people and players and move on and some of them had kids — it’s been a while,” he said. “That’s what I enjoyed the most — that I was able to get the most out of the players, and I’m friends with a lot of them still.”
Wholihan moved to Naples from New York after a career as a firefighter. He was one of the many firefighters who responded to the September 11 attacks after the Twin Towers were struck.
Wholihan was awarded the Jeff Sommer Memorial Coach of the Year Award in 2023 following an inspiring girls basketball season. In August 2022, Wholihan suffered a heart attack while riding his bike, and his life was potentially saved by some quick-thinking passers-by. Despite the health challenges he faced in the aftermath, Wholihan coached the Celtics to a 19-8 record and a district title.
Josh Hardy, a former player coached by Wholihan, assumed the head coaching duties of the girls basketball team last season as the team went 21-8 with Wholihan serving as an assistant coach.
“He’s like a son to me — that’s how close we are,” Wholihan said. “So I have no regrets leaving the team with him.”
Wholihan thanked Neumann Principal Sr. Patricia Roche, athletic director Damon Jones and former athletic director Mark Masala as well as his family.
He said he is grateful to his wife Donna for allowing him to follow his dream of coaching.
“You know how much we miss birthdays and holidays,” Wholihan said. “But I just appreciate Neumann was a family to me. Both of my sons graduated from there. … We came down here right after 9/11 and they took me in right away, so the last 24 years have a pleasure to work there.”
CSN hires alumna Stephanie Paul to lead girls basketball team
A former Community School of Naples great is now at the helm of the girls basketball team.
Ten years after her graduation, Stephanie Paul was hired to lead the Seahawks, replacing Andrea Mize earlier this month.
“It feels like a family reunion almost,” Paul said.
Paul was a two-time Naples Daily News Girls Basketball Player of the Year and was First-Team All-State as a senior. She also won five individual state titles in track and field: three in the discus and two in the shot put. Paul played four seasons at Georgia, starting as a true freshman.
At CSN, Paul played under two-time state champion coach Mitch Woods. Since Woods departed in 2016, the Seahawks have struggled to win consistently, going 78-90. In the last three seasons, CSN has posted a 12-40 record.
Paul called it “rewarding” to have a chance to rebuild the program.
“Life is feeling very full circle for me,” she said. “I’ve been away for about 10 years, literally. And to come back and, every time I come to the gym, I get to see some of the accomplishments and successes that we’ve had as a program. And it’s also motivating because there hasn’t been much winning since. So it’s something that I’ve been taking on the challenge and embracing for next season to find a way to bring back winning to CSN.”
Since graduating from Georgia, Paul has played overseas, started her own basketball training academy, and coached. She will have familiarity with several of her players at CSN, having previously coached the Seahawks’ middle school team.
“One of the things that made me come back is I love to coach,” Paul said. “I love every aspect of basketball — playing, coaching, watching the game. And over time, I’ve learned how to be a really good coach. And being able to coach at CSN and come back to these beautiful facilities, to come back to challenging environments because I love to be challenged in a lot of ways. And I know building the program back up is going to be a challenge, but I embrace those kind of things, and that’s what I love.”
Paul believes her experience as a player will help her better understand how to connect with her players. She described not having a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the game.
“I do want my team to play with a lot of autonomy, a lot of confidence,” Paul said. “One thing that I’ve been telling the girls who are here this summer is that we’re not only going to play fast, we’re going to also play strong, and we’re going to play smart. We’re going to be wise in our decision making. So right now, we’re coaching with a lot of decision making in mind. So girls on the court can have some autonomy, because as a player myself, one of the things that helps me as a coach is being able to understand the perspective of a player. Because on the court, sometimes, whatever your coach is telling you doesn’t work. It doesn’t. So you have to find ways as players and as a team to come up with different solutions on the court, on your own, that might be different than what the coach is telling you, because as a coach, I’m not on the court playing with them.”
Paul still has strong relationships in the Naples community, including her family and her former high school coach in Woods, that will help her start to turn CSN girls basketball around — something she said she is incredibly grateful to have.
“I love to win,” she said. “I’ve won a lot at the Community School at the high school level. I won five state championships here for track and field. I won five district championships as a player here, two regional championships. I went to states twice. I’ve won a lot, but I understand what it takes. It takes sometimes losing. So that’s what I want for the program. I want to put us in positions to learn how to have a winning mindset and to be one percent better every single day. That’s one of my things that I’ve been telling the kids so far. As a coach, it’s something that I try to live by every day as well. So how can we be one percent better in winning? That’s my vision for CSN girls basketball.”
Bishop Verot announces soccer shakeup
Danny Vazquez, the Vikings’ boys soccer coach for the past five seasons, is set to become the girls soccer coach, according to an announcement on social media in May.
Vazquez will replace Acelya Aydogmus, who guided the Verot girls to a 44-7-5 record over the past three seasons.
Vazquez, who led the boys to a 54-21-21 record with five district titles over the last five seasons, will be replaced by assistant coach Jason Kulsveen.
Former LaBelle boys basketball coach heading to Riverdale
Riverdale announced the hiring of Jordan Olison to replace Delair Osnac on June 5.
Olison has served as the head coach at LaBelle the last three seasons, going 49-32. The Cowboys won the Class 4A-District 12 title this past season.
The Raiders went 0-21 last season and haven’t posted a winning record since 2024.
Former Golden Gate player Anjelo Castro-Perez hired to coach Titans
Castro-Perez, a 2020 Golden Gate graduate, is the Titans’ next head boys basketball coach, according to an announcement last month.
He is replacing head coach Guy Hensley, who led Golden Gate to a 69-91 record over the past six seasons.
Casto-Perez previously served as an assistant coach on the team.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: SW FL Coaching Carousel: St. John Neumann coach John Wholihan retires
Reporting by Dustin B Levy, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dustin B Levy, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
