St. Joe’s taps famous alum, NBA star’s father, as Karl Towns, Sr., is named Falcons’ hoops coach

St. Joseph of Metuchen announced Friday it has named Karl Towns, Sr., the father of former Falcon great and current NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns, as its new basketball coach.

It’s a nod back to the most prolific era in the school’s basketball history, which saw the Falcons go 86-9 over a three year span from 2011-12 through 2013-14 with Towns, as well as Wade Baldwin and Marques Townes in the last two seasons, winning the Tournament of Champions in 2014 under then-mentor Dave Turco. It was the early part of a stretch that saw Joe’s win nine of ten GMC Tournaments, unprecedented in Middlesex County hoops lore.

Karl-Anthony Towns helped the Falcons to three straight GMC titles and Non-Public A titles, making the TOC all three years he played in Metuchen. (He reclassified after his sophomore season and only played three years of high school ball.) Towns also was the 2014 National Gatorade Player of the Year.

His father was the coach at Piscataway Tech at the time, stepping down after 15 seasons with the Raiders after his son graduated St. Joseph, so he could follow him for the year he played for John Calipari at Kentucky, before moving on to the NBA, where he’s currently with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jacqueline, Karl-Anthony’s mother and Karl’s wife, passed away from COVID in 2020.

Towns, Sr., will replace Jan Cocozziello, who was 88-40 in five seasons in Metuchen, but never won a GMC Tournament title, after the Falcons had won nine in ten seasons prior to his arrival under Dave Turco, and later, Mike Thompson.

Towns, Sr., also has worked under Turco, both at his prior coaching stop at Middlesex County College, and at his current post, at Kean University in Union. He played scholastically at Piscataway, then collegiately at Middlesex and Mercer County Colleges, before finishing at Monmouth.