High School

Longtime Tappan Zee boys basketball coach steps down

George Gaine guided the Dutchmen to the New York State Class A title in 2023

Kevin L. Smith

Tappan Zee coach George Gaine walks the sideline during the New York State boys basketball semifinal game against Peekskill at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on March 4.
Tappan Zee coach George Gaine walks the sideline during the New York State boys basketball semifinal game against Peekskill at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on March 4. / John Meore/The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

George Gaine, the longtime boys basketball coach at Tappan Zee High School in Orangeburg, New York, has stepped down.

According to Kevin Devaney, Jr. via X on Thursday, Gaine is leaving the position after 22 seasons. In that time, Gaine led the Dutchmen to a 301-47 record, four Section I titles, two Rockland County trophies and a 2023 New York State Class A crown.

Devaney noted in his post on X that Gaine made his decision “a while ago,” citing that Gaine “felt it was time to move on.”

Gaine guided Tappan Zee to a 21-4 record and an appearance in the Class A State Final Four during the 2024-25 season. 

In the 2011-12 season, Gaine was at the helm of a Dutchmen squad that upset powerhouse Jamesville-DeWitt in the state semifinals in Glens Falls.

Devaney noted in his post that he thinks Gaine, a physical education teacher at Tappan Zee, will coach again in the future. Gaine’s replacement hasn’t been determined yet, but Devaney believes that the new coach “will come from within the program.”

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Kevin L. Smith
KEVIN L. SMITH

Kevin L. Smith, a Rochester (NY) native and a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, has been covering high school sports for over a decade. He started out as a freelance sportswriter in 2013. Since then, he’s held sportswriter and editor positions for newspapers in Coudersport (PA), Sayre (PA) and Oswego (NY). Smith currently covers high school sports in the Greater Syracuse Area for syracuse.com | Post-Standard, a position he’s held since 2021. You can follow him on social media @KevLSmittie. Story ideas can be sent to KLSFreelancing@outlook.com.

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