Vito Montelli, a Connecticut coaching titan who guided generations of boys basketball players for more than a half century, becoming the state’s all-time winningest coach in victories and state championships, died Friday morning at his home in Stratford surrounded by his family, his son, Tommy, said. He was 92.

A Bristol native and the only surviving child of Italian immigrants, Montelli was a 30-year old baseball coach at Notre Dame High of Bridgeport when he was asked to come work at the new St. Joseph High School in Trumbull, which was opening its doors for the first time in 1962. Problem was, the baseball field wasn’t ready. So Montelli switched to coaching basketball. Connecticut sports, too, were changed forever.