Al Iacofano knew he was going to get his opportunity to be a varsity head basketball at some point — he just didn’t think it would be now.

As an assistant coach at Perry under coach Chad Frazier, Iacofano thought he’d be waiting for awhile before he got his shot to steer the Pirates program.

But, after Frazier stepped down following the season to take a break from coaching and spend more time with his family, Iacofano has his chance.

“I’m really excited, this is a great opportunity for me and I’m really looking forward to it,” the new Pirates head man said. “I always had the goal of being a head coach, but being under Chad I envisioned that I’d be with him a long time and I would be fortunate to do so. I definitely didn’t envision it being this quick.

“Circumstances came up and he was ready to take a step back and spend time with the family, so a great opportunity opened up for me.”

Iacofano spent the past two seasons as a varsity assistant, but began his career at Perry as the team’s freshman coach five years ago, the same season Frazier guided the Pirates to the regional.

With the success that Frazier established, Iacofano said he plans for an easy transition.

“It’s definitely going to be a smooth transition because I know the kids real well and I’m not looking to make any major changes,” he said. “Philosophically, Chad and I were on the same page. I just want to continue what we’ve been doing and keep taking steps in the right direction.”

Iacofano said the success he experienced as a freshman coach, JV coach then varsity assistant over the past five seasons will serve him well as he takes another step forward in his coaching career.

“It was definitely a successful five years when you consider two conference championships, a deep run into the playoffs his first year and we gave one of the top teams in the state a run,” he said. “As an assistant, that was a great experience. Chad was always real good about keeping the staff involved. Even as a freshman coach, he always asked me to come to the games and be part of the postseason, even though my freshmen season was over.

“I saw the hard work that went into that and the success that came with it so I hope to continue that as I start my own program.”

Perry is coming off two somewhat down seasons from a wins-and-losses standpoint compared to seasons past.

With that in mind, Iacofano said it’s important that his players continue to believe in winning.

He also plans to build up the middle school program as a developmental tool for when those players reach the varsity level.

“It’s just going to take a lot of hard work, and the kids continuing to believe,” he said. “I plan to put a ton of time in with the varsity team, but it’s important we continue to develop our lower levels. The staff is in place and I believe the athletic director and I are on the same page.

“So we’re going to focus a lot of the program on the elementary level and all the way up through. From a win-loss standpoint, we weren’t where we wanted to be last year, but from the growth we made from the beginning of the season, I thought it was a success and I hope to build off that momentum.”

The U.S. history teacher at Perry said his team has been very active in the offseason and looks for that to carry over once basketball season rolls around.

“The kids have been great,” he said. “We’ve gotten together about 12-14 times with scrimmages, summer leagues, etc. and the turnout has been awesome. The kids have been positive and that’s a good start.

“We have a lot of guys in fall sports so we look forward to them being competitive in other arenas and seeing what they can do.”

While Iacofano is committed to keeping things streamlined from where they have been over the past five years, he said Perry fans may seem subtle differences on the court.

“There won’t be any major changes, but there might be some subtle stuff from an offensive and defensive standpoint,” he said. “The foundation and basis of the philosophy will continue, though.”

While the product should remain the same, Iacofano said the biggest change has been to his personal life.

He said it probably won’t truly sink in that he’s the head coach at Perry until the first official practice arrives, he certainly has noticed a decrease in his free time.

“To be honest, it has sunk in a little bit over the summer, but it really won’t quite hit until that first day of practice, it’s still kind of surreal,” he said. “It’s funny, because last year in the spring, before I knew I had this chance, one of the coaches told me, ‘once you’re a head coach, you do something with your program every day, whether its answering an email or talking to parent.’

“That part really has hit home. Since I got hired on June 6, not one day has gone by where there wasn’t something to do. But that’s a great thing, it’s not a negative, I’m excited about it.”

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