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The New England basketball community is mourning one of its brightest stars as Thayer Academy boys coach Mike Babul died Monday at the age of 47.
Babul was in his second season coaching the Tigers and had led them to a 5-1 record going into the holiday break. A former standout player himself in both high school (North Attleboro) and college (UMass), Babul had made a huge impact at Thayer, an Independent School League prep program in Braintree.
“He had a magnetic personality,” said Bobbi Moran, Thayer’s athletic director. “He did everything with gusto and passion. He loved the game of basketball. He loved being around basketball. He loved coaching kids of all ages and all ability levels. He turned our program (around); he took what (former coach) Mike Jones had built (and took it to the next level). Those boys would walk through fire for him. They loved him deeply and he loved them deeply.
“He had sent out an email just before the holidays saying how much he appreciated working with us at Thayer and how grateful he was to be there and how it was one of the greatest joys of his life. He used to say, ‘This is my dream job.’
“I’m so sad for our boys. I’m so sad for our families, our community. And I’m so eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him and his coaching staff. He is a legend and he’s going to be sorely missed.”
Babul, who lived in Plymouth and was engaged to be married, was a standout player at North Attleboro High, where he was the program’s all-time leading scorer. As a 6-6 senior forward in 1996, when he averaged 20.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, he was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Massachusetts, as well as the Massachusetts High School Coaches Association Player of the Year. Babul also was named to the prestigious Parade Magazine All-American Team in 1996, which honors the top 40 prep players in the country.
Babul went on to play four seasons at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where he was a three-time selection to the Atlantic-10 All-Defensive Team and All-Academic Team. He was a member of coach John Calipari’s final recruiting class with the Minutemen, although he played under Bruiser Flint.
Babul began his coaching career by running the JV team at Seekonk High and came to Thayer after serving as an assistant coach for the Long Island Nets, the G-League affiliate of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. He joined the Nets organization following seven seasons at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York, where he spent his last four seasons as the Associate Head Coach.
Babul also served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Auburn University, the University of Texas at El Paso and Drexel University, as well as one season as an assistant coach at Youngstown State University.
Babul got his foot in the door in college coaching by serving as the Assistant Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Memphis under Calipari.
Moran called Babul’s hiring at Thayer a “slam dunk.”
“It was funny,” she said. “We had several wonderful candidates who were interested in the position. They were all great people and they all could have been a wonderful fit, but the minute I met Mike Babul, something clicked, for both of us. I had heard about him. I called him while he was on vacation in Aruba. I talked to him for about an hour and he said, ‘You know, I drive by Thayer Academy every day and I think to myself, that’s my next gig. That’s where I want to be.'”
Joe McNamara, whose son Michael is a 6-8 sophomore forward for Thayer, remembers that Babul was “able to light up a room.”
Michael McNamara, who lives in Needham, spent his freshman season at Catholic Memorial but wanted to transfer to prep school for his sophomore campaign. Joe McNamara said Michael was all set to sign up at Rivers School when a short workout with Babul, who had just taken the Thayer job, changed his mind. “He gets in the car and says, ‘Dad, you’re going to kill me, but he’s the real deal. Would you be mad if I applied to Thayer?'” Joe McNamara said.
The elder McNamara talked about how plans had already been set, but Michael talked his dad into letting him have a second workout with Babul and emerged from that one even more convinced. “He said, ‘I have to play for him,'” Joe McNamara said. “Michael wanted to be him. That sums up Mike Babul. As good as he was (as a player and coach), he was an even better dude. That’s what we’ll miss.”
According to his bio on the Thayer Academy athletic department website, Babul “coached and aided in the development of over 75 players that have gone on to play basketball at the professional level.” Babul also was the owner of Hoop Work, LLC, which specializes in camps, clinics, and private basketball instruction for young athletes. He also served as the director of the Mansfield-based MetroWest Swarm AAU program and coached in the Draft League, a local summer league designed for middle-school players.
Babul’s twin brother, Jon, played with him at North Attleboro and went on to play at Georgia Tech. He currently serves as the Vice President of Basketball Development for the Atlanta Hawks. Babul’s younger brother, Jeffrey, works for the Pawtucket Fire Department.
In a tribute story on its website, the New England Recruiting Report wrote: “Mike’s passing is an unimaginable loss, not just for those closest to him but for the countless players, coaches, and families whose lives he touched along the way. He will be remembered as a basketball-lifer who poured everything into the game he loved.”
