Posted by Parents go with Hype on March 02, 2023 at 09:38:57:
In Reply to: Re: Best Southern section coaches posted by Completely incorrect on March 02, 2023 at 05:22:47:
: : : I’ve gotten the chance to see a lot of high school teams play this season and I’m curious who everyone thinks are the best coaches to play for? I don’t really know any of these coaches personally but based on what I see/records/style of play/how others view them this is how I’ll rank them if I had to choose a top 5:
: : : 1. Sierra Canyon(she can coach and she always seems to get the best players. Not sure if she’s just a great recruiter or if people just wanna come play for her. The stats and titles don’t lie).
: : : 2. Mater dei(kiernan has been around forever and always has great teams and many titles to prove for. He runs some good stuff and the girls seem to love him. Any good girl in the trinity league somehow ends up transferring to MD).
: : : 3. Etiwanda(really the only public school powerhouse out there. Hard nose and gets his girls to play hard. A lot of his girls play at the next level. His program has been at the top for many years despite being public even though we all know he recruits since he’s the Why Not coach).
: : : 4. Ontario Christian(has brought that school from nothing to something over the last handful of years. Runs some really good stuff and his girls love him. He can’t seem to close runs out but he’s been in the finals many times).
: : : 5. Redondo union(he’s a legend and has one many times. Not getting the girls he use to get but he can coach and has one many titles over the last decade).
: : : Who am I missing and who would you want your daughter to play for if you could choose?
: : Ontario Christian needs to be removed from this list. They will be irrelivant in 2 years and were irrelivant before Briggs got there. Also the best coaches plays and beats the best Ontario Christian hasn't done that. Zero CIF Championships with Briggs there and didn't beat anybody in the Open Division so therefore not great or the best. You are leaving off Coach Buggs and Poly which shows that you are new to basketball and that's okay. Poly has been down for the past 3 years now but since 2000, they have been the public school powerhouse(more championships than Etiwanda by a lot!!!). If you put the Redondo Union coach on your list then Buggs needs to be there too. Also you have to add the Harvard-Westlake coach Melissa Hearilhy since she is the 2nd winningest coach in California behind Kiernan. Also Ann Larson at Ventura needs to be on the list too. She runs some great stuff and is a great coach and teaches the game with discipline. There are other coaches too that I would add to the list but because they haven't had the best years lately I will omit them but the five you listed all benefit from getting the best players around. I would suggest looking at the coaches that teach and develop their players rather than getting the cream of the crop. That's the problem with promoting the same 10-16 schools that's all everyone hears about and wants to send their kids there when there are coaches who are way better than the 5 you listed. I know a couple of coaches that if you gave them one or two Division 1 caliber kids they would not only compete but beat some of the top teams like a Mater Dei or an Etiwanda.
: Not a single coach you listed is even in the top fifty of top coaches in the southern section. Most successful has NOTHING to do with ability because each of these coaches recruit like crazy. The Sierra Canyon, Mater Dei, and Etiwanda coaches just literally roll the ball out and their division one talent wins most games. Here is a real list of the top coaches in the Southern Section, in no specific order, who actually have to coach their teams with less talent. All of these coaches are BY FAR superior coaches to the ones listed:
: 1. Paul Gross at Notre Dame SO. - guy is dealing with Chaminade, Alemany, Harvard Westlake, and Sierra Canyon stealing all of the talent in the area, but still finds a way to keep his team in games against teams with by FAR superior talent...even beating Alemany this year which he had no business beating. Won CIF in 2019.
: 2. Charles Soloman at Brentwood - Gets some really good players, but no where near like the elites. Coaches his teams up to play above their skil level and strategizes better than the "Elite" coaches. Always has his undersized teams competitive with far superior talented teams. Beat top teams this season and won a CIF title.
: 3. Vicky Oganyan at Burroughs - Here Burroughs teams have won or at least competed for Pacific league titles the past two decades. Coaches her teams up beyond their talent and always has multiple sets to answer any defense that they may face.
: 4. Anne Larson at Ventura - Although she used to get the top talent in the are in the past, those days are over. Yet, her Ventura teams are always competitive and always well prepared. She is rarely, if ever, outcoached.
: Give any of these coaches the Mater Dei team, or Etiwanda team and they aren't losing any games against any team in the country. Any of these coaches would dominate these top teams if they had any where near the same talent.
Parents now a days, seem to go where the social media hype is, while their child sits on the bench & claps them on. The travel ball coaches, get the kids to play for their high schools, then every other coach / school, is digging for what is left of players. Coaches can only work with what they are given. The Brentwood coach, has been the smartest coach I have seen in D2, & has a well developed team. When you stack a team with all travel ball players, you have the major advantage over any other school that doesn't. For D1 coaches/teams, who can get the best players? not who can develop the best players, which is what coaching used to be about. Once Juju, Jada, and others "big name" senior leave, who is the next big "stars" in the Southern Section, Kennedy Nicole, a few others guards and who is left? Recruiting for high school girls is done in AAU.