Pleasantville High School will turn to two of the most accomplished players in Cape-Atlantic League history to revitalize its boys basketball program.
The Pleasantville Board of Education last week approved 2006 Atlantic City High School graduate Frank Turner as head coach and 2001 Pleasantville graduate Antwan Dozier as an assistant.
“Frank and Antwan are both guys who love dominating the details and developing student athletes,” Pleasantville athletic director Matthew Zachariades said. “With their experience, guidance and skills, they can help Pleasantville students reach their full potential and guide them down the right path.”
Few high school coaches have experienced the playing success of Turner and Dozier.
Turner starred at point guard for the 2004-05 Atlantic City Vikings, the first team in the program’s illustrious history to win a state title.
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After graduating, he went on to star at NCAA Division I Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where he scored 1,769 career points and was inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame. Turner played professionally overseas for more than a decade. Last season, Turner was an assistant with the Atlantic City girls and boys teams.
“I feel like with my resume and my background in basketbal — it’s going to be tough — but this is something that’s going to be really special,” Turner said. “I’m very excited. I think a lot of kids know my resume and my background, and they will really be into the work we’re going to put in. Once things get rolling, we’re not running from any smoke. We want to challenge these kids.”
One of the best players in Pleasantville history, Dozier led the Greyhounds to the 2001 state Group II final. He finished his career with 1,922 career points. Dozier went on to have a standout career at Montclair State.
“I’m really excited to be back involved with Pleasantville basketball,” Dozier said. “I feel like a change is coming. It’s just a matter of getting the kids out playing and getting to work.”
Few CAL teams can match Pleasantville’s tradition of basketball success. The Greyhounds, who are famed for their pressure defense and uptempo style, won state Group II titles in 1974, 1995 and 1996. But they haven’t been back to a state final since 2001.
Turner and Dozier take over a program in need of some stability. The Greyhounds, who finished 12-15 under first-year coach Curtis Hicks last season, have had four straight losing seasons. The 2024-25 season will be the fourth straight that Pleasantville has a new boys basketball coach.
“Frank is a gym rat, like myself,” Dozier said. “He’s got a great basketball mind. We’ve seen a lot of basketball. We’ve played a lot of basketball. It’s going to be good.”
When the Pleasantville basketball program has struggled, it’s been mostly because many of the talented residents choose to play for non-public or other public schools as choice students.
That could change with the new coaching staff, especially since Dozier is well-known in the Pleasantville community as a youth basketball and football coach.
“I’ve coached and mentored a lot of the younger kids coming up,” Dozier said. “I not only know the kids, I know the parents. A lot of the parents are the people I grew up going to school with.”
Jalen Freeman, a 2019 Pleasantville graduate, will join Turner and Dozier as the staff’s third coach. Turner said accountability will be a key word for the Greyhounds.
“We want to build a culture at Pleasantville on and off the court,” Turner said. “We want to help these kids understand the concept of team basketball. Teaching the game and having them understand the importance of spacing, pushing the ball ahead, taking good shots and valuing the ball.”
Atlantic City and Pleasantville are rivals. Their annual Sunday game at the Battle by the Bay is always one of the season’s highlights.
Turner will now trade the blue and white of Atlantic City for the maroon of Pleasantville.
“Atlantic City is my heart,” Turner said. “This is an opportunity for me and my family to get my coaching career going. I’m always going to love Atlantic City, but Pleasantville has helped with my career as a basketball player also. Pleasantville is a home to me also. I’m going to treat it like that.”