There might be a little more spring in the step, more bounce in the ball, more determination in the shot.

Hillcrest girls’ hoops has a new coach who has long-term plans, which may revitalize a program that has had three head coaches in the past eight years. It’s been a rough last two years as the Huskies only won one game.

“From day one, from my first parent meeting, the players who have been coming out have been super positive, super engaged; they want to get better,” said head coach Marcus Onofrietti, who previously was an assistant boys’ basketball coach at Providence Hall in Herriman. “It’s been so rewarding even from the first open games we had this summer when I didn’t know anybody’s name. The players were hard working, making it fun, staying positive and wanting to get better despite having a couple of rocky years here.”

Before team tryouts, Onofrietti anticipated several starters, some who play fall sports, to mix with players who are returning to the game along with some new faces on his sophomore, JV and varsity teams.

“The last two or three weeks, we’ve been playing in a fall league and holding some open gyms; we’ve had a strong turnout, which has been awesome to see. Once fall season comes to a close, we’ll get a few more girls from those sports and add them to the mix,” he said. “We have about 10 freshmen, who have been committed. Having that youth injection is awesome, in addition to the girls who have been putting in the work the last three or four years.”

While Onofrietti is new to coaching girls’ basketball, he isn’t new to the game. As a fan of the WNBA and women’s college basketball, he was part of a coaching staff that implemented some of their style of play below the hoops into the boys’ high school game the past five years.

“I found myself watching more of the women’s game in college than the men’s because the schemes are more intricate. We were the underdogs at Providence Hall, so we were able to find schemes that helped us be successful. At Hillcrest, we’re also a bit of the underdog this year, so we get to come up with schemes that level the playing field a bit and that’s one of the most exciting parts about it, other than just getting to know the girls and helping them improve,” he said.

Onofrietti anticipates a fast-moving pace for the Huskies.

“Everything we want to do this year is aggressive. We want to play fast; we want to press a lot and get out on the transition. They go hand-in-hand; good defense leads to the quick offense. Teaching transition is going to be an important thing along with skill development. When we’re in the half court, we want to be aggressive and attack both sides of the ball. We have good coaching staff I’m excited about who will help with the younger players develop very specific things,” he said.

Onofrietti’s staff includes Erika Muñoz, Tawsi Rohner, Zach Schlesinger and Jared Williams.

He anticipated Cottonwood, Jordan and Murray high schools to give Hillcrest the most competition with region this season. 

“Our biggest goal is to be competitive in every game we play. We can’t really control the weird bounces or the crazy fouls, but if you’re in a position to win a basketball game then, I feel like we’ll be pretty successful this year. When we get to a point where we’re confident in our play, then we can match up with anyone,” he said.

Onofrietti also wants them to be proud of the program.

“We want to build a positive culture. We want girls to buy into it and that starts internally. It’s having the girls building each other up and wanting each other to get better, wanting to be better together, and that translates to the court,” he said. “We want this to go beyond basketball. We want them to be good ambassadors for the school. We want them to be good in the classroom.”

Onofrietti, who worked as an academic adviser for the University of Utah’s athletic department, has the knowledge to work with student-athletes’ study halls, helping them build their schedules, and finding a balance in academics and sports.

“I teach a basketball class here, but we’ll also do some homework or offer ways to help if we know someone’s struggling or has a big assignment; we can help them with the resources they need,” he said.

Onofrietti said he has goals of building the youth program as well. In early June, the Huskies hosted a youth camp for players, age 8 to 13. He’s reaching out to middle school girls to bring back the Bantam developmental team.

For now he wants this season to be fun. 

“The thing I’ve been preaching a lot to these girls is joy,” Onofrietti said. “(NBA head coach and former player) Steve Kerr talks about this a lot, but basketball is a fun game. It’s a game to be played with a lot of energy, joy and passion. I don’t want basketball to be work. I want this to be something that, yes, we’re competitive, yes, we’re working hard, but that it’s something we’re truly enjoying and that we’re playing with a sense of joy and positivity. I want us to carry that into practice, carry that into school, carry that outside of the program. I want us to love playing together and bring that joy to everything we do.” λ