After a year away, Mulvey returns to lead Portsmouth boys basketball

PORTSMOUTH – Jon Mulvey made the difficult choice not to coach his Portsmouth High School boys basketball team last winter because he knew he had another job that was more important.

The Mulveys already had a now 4½ year-old son, Max, when they welcomed twin daughters, Blake and McKenna, last fall and with his family growing, Mulvey knew he needed to be there to support his wife, Liz, and that coaching basketball would have to take a back seat.

Mulvey executed the plan for a one-year layoff and made his return to the sidelines on Friday night to guide Portsmouth to a 72-50 Division I victory over Manchester Central in the season opener inside Stone Gymnasium.

“I love coaching here, I love being here around a talented group of guys and I’m just excited to be back,” Mulvey said. “I missed the process of getting better every day and I really hit that home with the guys; just try to get better each and every day.”

Mulvey graduated as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,299 points during a career that ended with a win over Pelham in the 2009 Class I championship game. Mulvey was an assistant under his father, Jim, when Cody Graham set the new school record with 1,440 points in 2018.

Former University of New Hampshire standout Tyrece Gibbs stepped in for Mulvey last year and guided the young Clippers to a 9-10 season that ended with a loss to Nashua South in the opening round of the D1 tournament.

Mulvey was grateful that Portsmouth athletic director Tom Kozikowski allowed him to take the year off to focus on his family with the knowledge he'd be back for his fifth season to lead his alma mater.

“It’s hard having twins and me being at home and helping my wife was very important for us to do together,” Mulvey said. “I came to all the home games and it’s really just tough to sit there and watch. I certainly missed it and I’m recharged to be back.”

Mulvey is essentially coaching a whole new group to him this year, as he only coached junior Ryan Swartz towards the end of his freshman season. Swartz emerged as Portsmouth’s top scorer and a force in the paint last year and is happy that Mulvey is back.

“He’s a great coach, he’s a coach of the players and having him back is just amazing,” Swartz said. “As soon as he came back you could feel there was a difference and everybody brought that extra intensity I feel like. He’s there when everyone needs him.”

Point guard Isaac Reis is also one of eight juniors on a team that has no seniors. Reis also took a big step last year and carried that into Friday night’s opener with 16 points.

“He’s just a nice guy and he makes everyone happy,” Reis said. “He’s a very calm guy and he’s not the kind of coach that gets in your head if you make a mistake.”

Mulvey is optimistic about the present and excited about the future, as Portsmouth has added talented six freshmen. Swartz’s younger brother, Derek, led Portsmouth with 19 points on Friday and started in the frontcourt beside freshman classmate Finn McCauley.

“We’re just trying to grow together every game and we’re preaching defense more because we’re very skilled offensively,” Mulvey said. “I think the team has a chance to be good. We’re young, we haven’t seen a lot of the teams yet, but the skill is there and the work ethic is there. If we put everything together, we’ve got a chance to be good.”