After a quarter-century building one of Pinellas County’s most consistent basketball programs, Chris Blackwell is starting over.
Blackwell, 60, is leaving St. Petersburg High to become the boys basketball coach at St. Petersburg Catholic. He accepted the job April 27 and informed his players Thursday.
“They were really persistent and wanted me there,” Blackwell said of SPC. “They want to build a program, and it’s exciting to see if I can replicate what I did at St. Petersburg over there.”
Three Green Devils players — Nijaun Harris, Zak Mellouki and Kayden Calhoun — are touring SPC and plan to enroll, Blackwell said.
Blackwell won more than 600 games at St. Petersburg, taking the Green Devils to seven state semifinals and two championship games. He will keep his day job as a recruiter at Pinellas Technical College.
“I’ll just be a basketball coach at SPC,” he said.
Before deciding, Blackwell called Dan Wright, his former coach at Lakewood and the winningest boys basketball coach in Pinellas County history.
“He was excited for me,” Blackwell said. “I never thought I would be in the same spot for as long as I was at St. Petersburg. But the time has come. My journey is done. Now it’s time to start a new chapter.”