By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
In the midst of his 27th season at the helm of the Haddonfield boys basketball program, Paul Wiedeman still arrives early on game nights, settling in to watch the junior varsity team compete before his own 7 p.m. varsity games to get a glimpse of his potential future players.
But when halftime arrives, his focus shifts. You’ll find Wiedeman in his office, Hudl livestream open on his desktop, tuned in — not to Haddonfield, but to Haddon Township.
On the screen is his daughter, Abby, a junior starter for the Hawks’ girls basketball team, the defending South Jersey Group 1 champion.
“It’s been an imbalance, which is the part I don’t always like, that I can’t always see most of her games,” said Wiedeman, who reached 600 career wins last winter. “But my wife (Susan) is there at every game, and I talk to her afterward.
“I usually try to watch our JV, but if Abby has a game, I’ll sneak into my office and just watch her first half.”
That’s been a routine Wiedeman has grown used to the last six winters, as his oldest daughter, Sara, is a 2023 graduate of Haddon Township and a four-year varsity player for the Hawks.
“That’s the one drawback, coaching here, and those two being at Haddon Township,” Wiedeman said. “That’s where they wanted to go, and they’ve been very successful, athletically and socially. It has worked out great.
“What a great year last year she had,” he continued, referring Abby’s sophomore campaign last year, when she averaged nearly nine points and five rebounds per game for a team that went 28-4. “She came in as a sophomore and started as a big part of the team. She really hit her stride. She’s able to see the floor very well. She’s unselfish, so I’m very proud of her in terms of how she plays the game. She has a good IQ for basketball.”
Basketball IQ has flowed throughout the Wiedeman family for decades. A 1989 Haddonfield graduate, Wiedeman played for his father, Dave, who amassed more than 400 wins in 26 seasons from 1971-1996. Together, the father-son duo won the 1989 Group 1 state title.
“My pop-pop played in college, he coached here, and my dad took over for him. My siblings, we all play basketball. It’s really cool,” Abby said. “I had the option to go to Haddonfield, but I chose to stay here (at Haddon Township). He’s a really good coach and a really good dad. It’s a mix of both, so I like it.”
Growing up through elementary and middle school, Wiedeman said he always knew he wanted to play for his father and eventually keep his legacy alive through coaching.
“I’m basically the kind of person who is the gatekeeper for the program to keep it going,” Wiedeman said. “I’m just following what he started. He started the foundation in the early 70s, and Haddonfield basketball wasn’t really on the map until he got there. I’m just trying to be the caretaker of the program and keep it going the way he has.”
At this point in his career, there aren’t many “firsts” left for Paul Wiedeman, who’s directed the Bulldawgs to five state championships, seven South Jersey and 16 Colonial Conference titles. But next winter will be a full-circle moment for the 53-year-old.
For the first time, he’ll get to coach his son, Matthew, who’s in eighth grade at Haddonfield Middle School.
“It’s neat because I said I would play for my dad, and that hopefully my son would be able to play for me,” Wiedeman explained. “Hopefully, my dad is still around to watch him play for me. It’s really a cycle of basketball at Haddonfield. It’ll be since 1971 until my son graduates in 2030. That’s a lot of Haddonfield basketball to be a part of.”
Haddonfield has a 16-3 overall record this season, including an 8-0 mark against Colonial Conference Liberty Division competition, and currently owns the top seed in the South Jersey Group 2 playoff power point standings. Under Wiedeman’s guidance, the Bulldawgs will be once again looking to make a deep postseason run — as they have several times throughout his tenure.
“It’s been 50 years of watching Haddonfield basketball,” Wiedeman said. “It’s a big part of who I am.”
