Prep boys basketball: Legendary coach Tom Bonfigli to retire after next season

After more than four decades on the sidelines, the winningest boys basketball coach in Sonoma County history has announced that next season will be his last.

Tom Bonfigli, the current head coach at St. Vincent, told his players last week that he’ll be retiring at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, according to a release from the school Tuesday.

“I’ve kind of done everything I wanted to do, even exceeding my own expectations to say the least, and, I don’t know, I just think that at this point in my life it’s a good decision,” Bonfigli, 69, told The Press Democrat on Tuesday. “I have a great JV coach in Nick Iacopi — I think he’ll be the new head coach — and I think our program is solid and we’ll be good next year and I’ll be leaving the program in a much better position than I found it, like the other programs I had.”

Next year will be Bonfigli’s 42nd season as a head coach. He currently sits at 843 career wins, No. 6 all-time in California history, according to records compiled by CalHi Sports. He accumulated most of those during two stints at Cardinal Newman over 26 years, leading the Cardinals to 591 wins and 16 North Bay League titles, as well as two North Coast Section and NorCal titles.

Bonfigli was hired at Cardinal Newman, his alma mater, in 1980 and coached there for 14 years before being let go. He then coached at Justin-Siena for the next 12 seasons, leading the Braves to a 225-120 overall record. He was rehired by Cardinal Newman in 2007 and stayed for 12 more seasons before leaving to take the head coaching job at St. Vincent in the spring of 2021.

“The sport has been great to me,” Bonfigli said. “I’ve had great relationships, great teams … I feel really good about my decision and I feel even better about, through the grace of God, what my teams and players have accomplished and the lifelong relationships I’ve had with those kids.”

Bonfigli said he may stay on as a teacher at St. Vincent for a few more years and could continue coaching basketball on the side in a reduced capacity. But he said he plans on traveling and spending more time with his wife when his coaching days are over.

“I haven’t had a Christmas vacation in 55 years and I haven’t had a summer vacation in 50 years,” he said. “So it’ll be nice to have some time to do what I want to do.”

You can reach Staff Writer Gus Morris at 707-304-9372 or gus.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @JustGusPD.