By Tim Kowalski
For the better part of a month, I sat behind a scoreboard controller, keeping score and watching the WNE Men’s Basketball team play. I got to sit front-row as Men’s Basketball finished the year with their best record in the past decade and earned a trip to a conference championship game. As I watched Gavin Greene streak down the court for transition layups, Brian O drain three-pointers, and Tim Restall bully countless defenders for easy buckets, I became intrigued by the man that made it all happen. Dressed to the nines in a suit and tie, Coach Tabb’s fiery intensity, focused demeanor, and frenzied pacing were almost as entertaining as the game. There was never a dull moment. Coach Tabb is in his element coaching the game of basketball.
Tabb grew up surrounded by basketball. He comes from one of those basketball families. “Basketball was a huge part of our family. Watching my older cousins and brothers play I naturally gravitated towards it,” Tabb stated.
Growing up, he watched his older brother Sean work hard to master the game, often rebounding for him whenever he could. Like many of his family members, he found a love for the game. For him, it was at an early age.
“When I really started to fall in love with it, I was probably around nine or ten,” Tabb explained. He spent most summer days at the park playing hoops with his friends, riding his bike to grab lunch, and organizing pick-up games whenever there were enough players.
Tabb enjoyed a successful career in high school and earned himself a scholarship to Quinnipiac University, but ultimately played the bulk of his college ball at Trinity College in Hartford. “When I went to Trinity, it really kind of recharged me,” Tabb began, “At Quinnipiac, it kind of felt like a job. I enjoyed my time at both, but definitely [more] at Trinity. We were successful and competed for championships.”
After graduation, Tabb participated in a Nike coaches convention modeling the drills. After a conversation with an assistant from Fairfield University, he found himself playing overseas in Germany and then Ireland.
After being away from family and friends, he decided his playing days should come to an end and took a job working as a sales rep at Pfizer. However, his experience at Pfizer made him realize he could not spend the remainder of his life in a nine-to-five.
He began coaching as an assistant at Brandeis University and then as head coach at the Loomis Chaffe School before settling here at WNE. Both experiences helped mold Tabb into the coach we all see during evenings at the HLC. “I loved being able to prepare, recruit, and try to mold your team to be able to compete and continuously get better. I love the process of everything,” he stated.
Tabb describes his introduction to coaching as a bit unorthodox. While at Brandeis, he left coaching to work full-time as the Director of Basketball at a company that works in conjunction with the Basketball Hall of Fame. There. he organized and ran tournaments, but he says, in the back of his mind, he always wanted to return to coaching.
“I always had my eye on, ‘Ok, can I get back into coaching? What does that look like? How could that possibly happen,’” Tabb explained. In 2014, Tabb returned to coaching as the head coach at Loomis, and in 2015, his current Western New England job became available. Tabb jumped at the opportunity. Tabb said, “When the Western New England job opened up, I saw how successful Coach Klepacki was, how successful Coach Chaszar was, and how successful football was… I saw this as a sleeping giant for basketball.”
While coach Tabb wasn’t wrong, success would be a slow burn. The Bears struggled in the first couple of years of Tabb’s tenure, but his experiences at Brandeis and Loomis helped shape him into a coach who loves the process and enjoys building something long-term.
“Coaching is painful. It’s lonely. It’s filled with regret and second-guessing yourself…” Tabb began, “Someone said this to me recently: ‘Coaching is not necessarily about enjoying the wins, it’s about the relief of not losing.’ But you always have to go back to your why. It’s not about the wins and losses. You have to look at the big picture and the process of what you are doing.”
Tabb’s mindset came to fruition in the 2022-2023 season. Men’s Basketball finished with a 21-7 record, a trip to the CCC Championship, and players like Jake Harrison earned huge post-season honors. Watching the Bears play, there is a focused, gritty attitude embedded within the team’s culture. “I try to tell the guys, if you put your name on it, crush it. You put your name on a paper, crush it. You put your name on the back of your jersey, crush it… Whatever you are doing in life, do it to the best of your ability,” Tabb advocated.
When asked about Tabb, WNE assistant John Salivonchik put it best. “He’s passionate, he truly cares about the game and his players, and he is one of the hardest-working guys I’ve met since being involved in basketball.”
I asked Coach Tabb what the campus can expect from the team in the coming years. Tabb’s response embodied that passionate, hardworking description. “I think we are gong to have a team that will compete,” he said, “This year we achieved more than I expected, and my hope is that we continue to play true to who we are, and give the school and community a lot to be proud of.”
I guess time will only tell. But, in my opinion, I look forward to watching Tabb and the Bears make good on those promises.
