Tony Dickens is the new head basketball coach at Northwood High in Silver Spring, athletic director Michael Wood announced Wednesday. Dickens, formerly the head coach for three years at Northwestern High in Prince George’s County, led the school to the Class 4A state championship in 2003-2004 but stepped down after it was discovered he conducted two illegal practices.
“It was a conflict of interest, a mutual decision,” said Dickens. “I can’t really get into it.”
Dickens left Northwestern the summer after his team’s state championship run, which included a memorable 61-59 victory over Springbrook in the title game at Comcast Center featuring Northwestern’s Jeff Green (Georgetown) and Springbrook’s Folarin Campbell (George Mason).
When Dickens’ successor at Northwestern, Gary Lampkins, committed the same offense prior to the following season, the team was banned from the 2004-2005 postseason.
At his new post, Dickens takes over a program that will play a varsity schedule for the first time. The last two seasons, Northwood fielded a junior varsity team, going 14-3 last year.
“It’s exciting. The school is new. The players are young,” said Dickens, currently a teacher at nearby Kennedy. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm here.”
