Damon Saxon, the new high school football coach at Nanticoke Area, probably wouldn’t have been happy with Damon Saxon the high school basketball player at Essex Catholic High School, an all boys school in East Orange, New Jersey.
He skipped basketball practice to meet with King’s College recruiter Steven Vashel, a decision that led Saxon to continue his academic and athletic careers in Wilkes-Barre.
It was Vashel’s attention to detail and constant presence at the New Jersey high school that stuck with Saxon and helped him become a student-athlete at King’s.
“I was ducking basketball practice,” said Saxon, who now as a coach would not tolerate any such behavior. “Coach Vashel was there, and I didn’t want to go to practice. He talked to us, he wanted four of us to come to King’s and play together. He came down there more times, he even came to one of my baseball games.”
At that time, Saxon did not know about the different divisions in collegiate athletics. All he knew was he would have an opportunity to play football and a chance to get away from the rough-and-tumble streets of Newark, New Jersey.
So Saxon came to Wilkes-Barre with a goal and a dream that nearly did not come to fruition. Saxon played for head coach Rich Mannello, now the highly successful head coach at Dallas High School.
“My first year at King’s was a culture shock,” Saxon admitted. “I was used to playing every position, playing all the time. Now I was only going to be playing one position. I was sitting on the bench. That was hard. I was away from home, but I was happy to be free.
Home was Newark, New Jersey — a place Saxon said he could compare to no place around the Wyoming Valley….



