Dempsey Lajoie – Sports Writer
Photo – Jim Stankiewicz
Cedric Gillette is an Andover native. Where he attended Andover High and was a varsity three sport athlete; football, basketball and baseball. Gillette would later take his education and baseball career just up the road to Merrimack College. At Merrimack Cedric was a right-handed pitcher for Warriors for five years.
As Gillette took his 5th year he was also selected out of a handful of people to be the graduate assistant for the Merrimack Men’s Basketball team. Essentially his new role as grad assistant consisted of so many tasks ranging from, laundry, making food orders for 30 people, setting up the gym for practice, assisting coaches with drills; all completed with immense energy and a smile on his face. Head Coach of the Warriors Joe Gallo said “Cedric’s reputation as a leader and teammate from both his high school and college coaches was what initially sold it for me. Also his loyalty to Merrimack made me think he would be a great addition to our staff.”
Starting point guard for the Warriors Budd Clark said “The energy Cedric brought to this team was eclectic, every practice he had the same energy, his energy always made you want to go 10x harder in practice every single day.”
Through an interview I conducted with Gillette I asked why he decided to pursue a career in basketball, “I’ve always found basketball to be a more exciting sport than baseball and since I went to college so close to my hometown I got the opportunity to coach my old high school team in the summers and falls which gave me my start as a basketball coach, and I absolutely loved that from day one. I knew it was what I wanted to do,” Gillette said.
In the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year Gillette had expressed the possibility of him leaving Merrimack and looking for something more. He said “I was growing sick of the student manager role and wanted to get away.”
On September 13, 2024, Gillette announced he had accepted an offer as the Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Maine Maritime Academy Men’s Basketball. “I wanted the opportunity to become a head coach and the school has had a ton of success in every sport other than men’s basketball which means this place can be a winner. I also thought the administration here is really great and the support for basketball has been very encouraging.”
For leading our Warriors for the past 9 years Joe Gallo put in his two senses of what characteristics it takes to be a great coach. “Cedric’s combination of being smart, loyal and hard working were the 3 main qualities that will continue to make him a great coach. He is also super competitive. When you combine all of those things there is no doubt that he will be successful as a head coach,” Gallo said.
Best of luck in your first season as Head Coach Cedric, we are rooting for you!
