Rutgers Prep boys basketball coach Matt Bloom steps down after nine years leading the Argonauts

There will be two new head coaches on the hardwood this upcoming season at Rutgers Prep.

Matt Bloom, the Argonauts’ boys basketball head coach, announced on Instagram Friday afternoon that he will step down from the position after nine years at the helm.

Bloom led Rutgers Prep to three Somerset County championships and seven finals appearances, and was named CJSR’s Boys Coach of the Year in 2022 after winning the Non-Public South A sectional championship and making the state final. A successor was not announced at the time of publishing.

His statement reads as follows:

“After much reflection, I have made the decision to resign from my position as RPS Boys Basketball Coach. This is a decision I have made thoughtfully and independently, and while it is not easy to step away from something that has meant so much to me and my family, I am confident that it is the right decision. It has been an honor to work with and advocate for our tremendous student-athletes and coaches. Some of my life’s most cherished memories have come from my time on the sidelines coaching the Argonauts. I am incredibly grateful for the relationships I’ve made and am very proud of the championship program we have built over the last nine seasons. While I will no longer be coaching basketball, I am excited to continue teaching at Rutgers Prep and remain an active member of this terrific community. I look forward to continuing to support our students and the school across a multitude of activities and programs. To the student-athletes I have had the privilege to coach—thank you for trusting me and know that I will always be proud to have been your coach.“

In all, Bloom compiled a 173-64 record during his nine-year tenure, led the Argonauts to its first sectional title in program history, and broke a long county title drought in 2020, the first of three they’d win under his guide.

A graduate of Teaneck High School, and later the University of Pennsylvania, Bloom spent all four years as a manager for the Quakers’ men’s basketball team under head coach Fran Dunphy.

He couldn’t stay away from basketball long even after graduating. Bloom spent three years on Fred Hill Jr’s staff at Rutgers, including two as the operations coordinator. He then stayed in the Division I ranks at La Salle after Hill’s dismissal, starting as a video coordinator before rising up to become the Explorers’ Director of Basketball Operations for his last three seasons in Philadelphia.

Then, when head coach Dr. John Giannini (now the AD at Rowan) left La Salle after 14 years, Bloom had to find another opportunity. That’s when he arrived at Rutgers Prep, and the rest was history.

The Argonauts went 18-10 and made it to the Somerset County Tournament final in his first year at the helm, then the semifinals in 2018-19. They finally broke through in Bloom’s third season, winning the program’s first Somerset County title since 1983.

That year, led by future Division I players Otega Oweh (Oklahoma/Kentucky), Nico Galette (Sacred Heart/Youngstown State), Trey Patterson (Villanova/Saint Peter’s/Rice) and Noah Harris (Marist), they went 27-2, won the county tournament as the top seed, and made it to the sectional final, where they lost to Wildwood Catholic.

Rutgers Prep also won back-to-back county tournaments in 2023 and 2024, giving Bloom and the Argonauts four titles in five years, when counting the sectional crown in 2022.

This past season, Rutgers Prep went 18-10, making it to yet another Somerset County Tournament final, before falling in the Non-Public South A semifinal to Bishop Eustace.

Always quick to give credit to his players, Bloom departs coaching the Argonauts, but noted in his statement he will remain in the classroom as a teacher at the school.