Zack Stitt never thought he wanted to be a Division I basketball coach.

But when an opportunity came up to be an assistant for the Cornell women’s basketball program last season, Stitt figured he would give it a try.

Following a year with Cornell, Stitt jumped at a chance to come closer to home and take over as the Mars girls basketball coach. Stitt, 29, is an Oakmont native and played collegiately at Geneva College.

“It was a combination of reasons,” said Stitt for why he applied at Mars. “I wanted to get back home. Also, the experience at Cornell wasn’t what I hoped for. I knew I didn’t want to be at the Division I level, but I figured I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I took a leap of faith and it didn’t work out.”

Zack Stitt, seen here as an assistant coach with the Cornell University women's basketball team, has been named the next head coach for Mars' girls program. Submitted Photo

Taking that chance set Stitt up with the experience to earn a shot at leading a successful high school program. Stitt will take over for Dana Petruska, who announced her retirement in April.

Petruska, who coached for 27 years at Mars between two stints, led the Planets to a Class 5A state championship in 2018. She finished her coaching career, which included an eight-year stint at Deer Lakes, with a 518-235 record.

The Planets finished 18-9 and reached the second round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs last season.

Stitt, whose dad, Keith, was a long-time girls basketball coach at Riverview, has always admired the Petruska family.

“My dad coached against Dana and I coached against both of her sons,” Stitt said. “I coached against Dave when I was coaching middle school at Riverview and coached against her son Jimmy when I was at Geneva.”

Stitt got his first coaching job serving on his dad’s staff at his alma mater Riverview. He was hired as an assistant at Geneva in 2017 for the men’s team before also joining the women’s program as an assistant in 2020. Stitt was promoted to associate head coach of the men’s team in 2022.

Stitt’s experience at Cornell was tough from the start. After taking the job, Stitt had to rush to find an apartment in a week and ended up living about 20 minutes north of campus in a remote area.

Stitt did appreciate working with two veteran coaches at Cornell in head coach Dayna Klepfer and associate head coach Val Klopfer.

“I was fortunate to work with both of them who both played at Division I as well,” Stitt said. “It was nice to see how they ran a program and how they kept things organized.”

After the season ended with Cornell, he took a job with the non-profit Next College Student Athlete. He is working remotely as a men’s basketball recruiting coach for NCSA and was able to relocate to Aspinwall.

Stitt is excited to be back in Western Pennsylvania and work with the program.

“Everyone wants to win section, WPIAL and state titles,” Stitt said. “But at some point, the ball stops bouncing. I want to win, but I also want to make sure that we can help position girls for the next step of their life as well.”