Former Milford coach Paul Seaver will take over Wellesley boys basketball this winter

Paul Seaver's coaching career is coming full circle.

The former Milford boys basketball coach will return to the sidelines in Massachusetts this winter after accepting Wellesley's open boys job earlier this month, he announced on X , formerly known as Twitter.

Seaver coached at Scituate High School in Rhode Island last season after spending nine years leading the Scarlet Hawks at his alma mater. His father Wally Seaver was an assistant at Wellesley during the 2010-2011 season.

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"My dad’s connection is certainly an attraction. Wellesley is a Division 1 job. It’s a great community. It’s a great high school. It has wonderful leadership, especially with athletic director John Brown. I’m super excited to be a part of that and build within that," Paul Seaver said. "There were  obvious connections most people will know. In my opinion, who wouldn’t want to coach at Wellesley? It doesn’t matter because I get to, and I’m thrilled to do so."

He's joining a program his father Wally Seaver worked at for the second time. Wally started his coaching career at the junior varsity level in Milford from 1983-1988. Franklin hired him as its varsity coach in 1989, and he stayed there until 2000. The Panthers won the 1998 Hockomock title and advanced to the state final Four. In 2000, Wally took over Milford's youth program. The gymnasium at the Milford Youth Center is dedicated to him . He returned to the high school ranks as an assistant at Wellesley in 2010-11, the last stop in his career before he was diagnosed with ALS. Wally died in 2013.

"A lot has come full circle over the past year plus, especially in regard to my full-time career with The ALS Association and now in taking over the boys' program at WHS," Seaver wrote.

He has helped host the Wally Seaver Invitational basketball tournament every summer for more than a decade. The tournament began as a 16-team local event in 2012 but grew to a record 158 teams in 2021 and has 127 programs registered for this year's event, which runs July 27-28 at the Mass Premier Courts in Foxboro and the Dana Barros Center in Stoughton.

Paul Seaver also once walked 32 miles from his home in Bellingham to Fenway Park to raise awareness for the disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Wellesley went 8-12 last year and missed the state tournament. The Raiders were fifth in the Bay State Conference Herget division standings but played eight games decided by five points or less.

"I’ve learned over time I will coach the game as my personnel suggests. I’ve had a handful of groups in my varsity career that are better at some things than they are at the others. Any good coach should be willing to adapt to their players and their strengths,” Seaver said. “Off the court, there’s a bigger picture, and that’s what I want everyone to have in the forefront of their mind."

Seaver graduated from Milford in 2007 and began coaching in Massachusetts at age 19. He was an assistant at Blackstone-Millville when he was in college and also spent time in Canton before joining Milford's program.

"This I where I played, this is where I grew up," he said. "A lot has changed with the postseason qualification, the rating system, the statewide tournament, but Massachusetts is my home I’m thrilled to be back."

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Former Milford coach Paul Seaver will take over Wellesley boys basketball this winter