Chris DiCintio,
President & Founder

Chris DiCintio is the founder and President of The East Coast Panthers. DiCintio has been involved with high school basketball for over twenty-five years. Previously, he was the Varsity Boys Coach at Somers High School in Somers, New York. Coach DiCinthio took his teams to the county center in 2015 and 2023. In 2023, DiCintio guided his team to Somers’ best season in the school’s history finishing with a 21-3 record, county center finalist, and an undefeated league championship, the first since 1989. DiCintio also spent 11 years as the Head Coach at Rye High School in Rye, New York where he guided his teams to several league championships and two Final Four appearances in 2006 and 2009. Coach DiCintio was voted the conference coach of the year in 2005 & 2023 and has amassed a record of 265 wins which is nearly 60% of career-coached games. In 2005, Coach DiCintio was voted Conference Coach of the Year in one of the strongest conferences in the State of New York that year. DiCintio was also the Associate Head Coach of the Empire State Hudson Valley men’s basketball team from 2004-2008 during which time his teams won two silver medals and captured gold in 2006. Coach DiCintio has helped develop Noumours players that are currently playing collegiate and professional basketball. Some of his former players include Michael D’Antoni, Houston Rockets NBA Coach, Mike D’Antoni and Max Twyman, grandson of NBA Hall of Famer, Jack Twyman. DiCintio is a New York State certified administrator and coach with degrees in finance, education, and administration.

Larry Rheingold,
Vice President

Larry Rheingold has been coaching for the better part of 25 years. For the past two seasons Rheingold has been the Asst. Men’s Coach at Concordia College. Previously, Rheingold was the asst. Varsity basketball coach at Croton Harmon High School. Additionally, Rheingold has been involved in youth basketball as well. Rheingold started his coaching career working with troubled youths in 7th and 8th grade. He has coached various age groups in AAU for the past 7 years. Of note, Rheingold has been the commissioner for the Tri-County Basketball League for the past three years. Currently, he coaches the East Coast Panthers 16U team which he has guided to numerous tournament titles. A great motivator, Coach Rheingold brings plenty of energy and passion to his teams. Rheingold owns an executive search firm in New York City and has been in the recruiting business for over 30 years. He trains college graduates on a regular basis and owning the business allows him to spend time coaching basketball, his true passion.

Lou DeMello,
Director of Basketball Operations

Lou DeMello is an energetic, motivated and extremely knowledgeable Athletic Director and Basketball Coach/Trainer for nearly 30 years. He is currently the assistant boys’ basketball coach and the director to the program for the junior varsity and modified level at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Coach DeMello comes to the East Coast Panthers as the Head of its Basketball Operations focusing on developing the Panthers throughout Westchester County. Lou brings years of experience at his profession being the former Athletic Director for the Brewster Sports Center in Brewster, NY and the House of Sports in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Coach DeMello was also the founder and director of the previous Westchester Hawks AAU basketball program. Under Lou’s direction, the Hawks grew to an astounding 95 teams with over 1100 members. It became the second largest AAU program in the tri-state area in the early 2000’s. During that time, Lou also founded the Slam Dunk Tournament which is held yearly at the Westchester County Center. The tournament hosts many of the top high school basketball teams in the state of New York. Lou was also the former head boys’ basketball coach at Rice High School in Harlem, NY from 1988 to 1994. He led his team to win the NYS CHSAA Class AA and Federation Championship as his team was ranked #1 in the USA Today National Rankings in 1994. Lou went on to become the NYS coach of the year. His achievements at Rice High School earned him the men’s head coaching position at Concordia College in Bronxville, NY from 1994 – 1997. Coach Demello will use his extensive experience to initiate developmental programs in addition to teaching and developing athletes through personal training while helping athletes to maximize their greatest potential.

John Cavaliere
Director of AAU Basketball

Coach Cavaliere joins the Panthers staff after 12 years of coaching college and prep school basketball. Coach Cav played an integral part in helping Putnam Science Academy win back-to-back national prep championships and lead the Elite Varsity to their first-ever Power 5 conference championship. In both seasons, Putnam Science earned a number 1 ranking in the country and sent dozens of players to the college ranks. Before prep school, Coach Cav was the head coach of Concordia College NY, an NCAA Division 2 institution. Cavaliere started coaching college basketball right after he graduated from St John’s University as a volunteer and worked his way up to the head coaching title. Coach has had many roles in the coaching profession and brings a ton of experience in program building, youth camps/clinics, game and practice strategy, and on-court player development. Cavaliere takes pride in creating a selfless, hard-working culture while helping young athletes strive to reach their potential and become leaders through the game of basketball. Throughout his career, Cavaliere coached over 20 Division 1 athletes, and 60+ other college players. It won’t be hard to tell who has the most energy in the room when Coach is in it!