Wilson basketball job open after disenchanted Chris Gallo abruptly departs
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Sean McBryan — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
Wilson is now in the market for a new girls basketball head coach after Chris Gallo unexpectedly resigned Thursday two months after a 24-5 season that saw the Bulldogs make their first trip to the state playoffs in six seasons.
Gallo said he did not envision stepping down until differences between him and school administration began about six weeks ago.
“Administration and I had different values,” Gallo said. “There’s a reason that people don’t want to coach and I admire those that can do it while maintaining their values.”
Gallo replaced Kevin Calabria as Wilson girls’ head coach in 2020 and led the Bulldogs to a 65-30 record over five seasons.
Wilson started four sophomores this season on a team that finished as a Berks runner-up and District 3 semifinalist.
The Bulldogs fell by nine points to unbeaten Wyomissing in the Berks championship, by one point to eventual champion Central Dauphin in the district semis, and by 16 to Conestoga in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A tournament.
“It was a neat thing what they did as freshmen and what they did as sophomores,” Gallo said.
“I was looking forward to continuing to see them get better. We did see that and I know we would have continued to see that, so it’s disappointing.”
Nearly the entire rotation is expected back next season, led by All-Berks point guard Laila Jones (16.1 points, 4.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds) and all-division center Violet Houck (9.8 points, 8.2 rebounds), each of whom will be juniors.
The Bulldogs started off 23-1 before losses in four of their last five games. They improved their win total by nine over last season and became one of only seven Berks girls teams to win 20 or more games in the regular season in the past decade.
Gallo previously coached boys basketball for 15 seasons at Schuylkill Valley, where he is a middle school teacher. He spent six seasons as an assistant on the Wilson boys staff under Matt Coldren before taking becoming head coach of the girls team.
“This is a little fresh and sour right now,” Gallo said. “I won’t say I’ll never go back to coaching, but there’s a reason people don’t want to coach. It’s a shame because I didn’t think I’d ever be in the position where I felt that way.”
Wilson joins Brandywine Heights as the only Berks Girls League schools in search for a girls basketball coach. Bullets former head coach Jason Bieber took the Fleetwood boys job in early May.
Twin Valley and Wyomissing have openings for a boys coach.
