5/15/2011 - Ruban Steps Down At Wallkill Valley
The winter sports season has been over for two months but the high school coaching hot stove seems like it is just heating up.
Mugs Media has confirmed that Wallkill Valley boys basketball head coach Gary Ruban has stepped down as the Rangers’ top man after a successful 11-year run to take over the Sussex Tech girls basketball program.
Ruban had no comment, but Wallkill Valley AD Todd Van Orden confirmed that Ruban has stepped down and the position has been posted.
Sussex Tech AD Debbie Keiper told Mugs Media that Ruban is the school’s choice to take over for Ray Witte, who coached the Mustangs the last three years. Ruban’s appointment is to be voted on by the school’s board of education at its May 26 meeting.
“I’m very excited,” said Keiper, who will be leaving soon for maternity leave, of landing Ruban. “His experience will be good for the girls and the program.
“He knows how to build a winning program,” she added. “He knows what it takes and he has had great success in all the sports he has coached.”
Ruban, who has taught and coached at Wallkill Valley since 1999, will remain as a physical education teacher at Wallkill Valley, I am told.
Well, first off, the obvious question is why Ruban would leave Wallkill, a program he has built into a Freedom Division contender? Like I stated before, Ruban had no comment and I’m sure once the position at Tech becomes official he will talk.
I can’t blame him for not commenting because anything can happen between now and May 26. My past experience has told me that school boards do not take too kindly to coaching candidates talking about the position before it is officially filled.
The only reason I have posted this information is that Ruban stepping down became public knowledge when the Wallkill job was posted. I had heard rumors before this but until I had official confirmation I did not run with the story.
So only Ruban knows why he left and that is his personal choice. I’m not here to judge and I wish Ruban the best of luck.
The Rangers went 11-13 last year and 6-4 in the Freedom. They lost to division rival Lenape Valley 52-49 in the opening round of the North 1, Group 2 state tournament.
The Rangers will graduate their dynamic scorer Keith Yearwood but will return a solid group of underclassmen like Mike Rillo, Kodie Hilbert, Owen Law and Bobby Russell.
Sussex Tech went 1-23 last year and the Mustangs will look to build under Ruban. The program has had some success over the years but has not been able to maintain it on a consistent level, and that is what Keiper is looking for, she said.
So what will Ruban bring to the Mustangs? In my view, a great knowledge of the game. Ruban can flat-out coach, although his offensive style, at least with the boys, was a little helter-skelter to some, but you can’t argue with success. The man knows the game.
He shared the Sussex County Interscholastic League with Pope John in 2000 with a squad paced by Kellen Watson, Chris Hendershot and Nick Elmo, which went 18-5 and 16-2 in the league.
The run-and-gun Rangers of 1,000-point scorer Mike Hern, Stash Kochka, Cody Herbert and Joe Byrne won the league in 2005 and went 20-4 and 16-2 in the league.
The Rangers made the SCIL Festival final in 2006, bowing to Vernon 66-52.
Ruban also guided the Rangers to the states several times with a couple of tough seasons in between. But he always righted the ship.
The former Governor Livingston basketball and baseball star also had great success with the girls soccer program in the early 2000s behind star Jess Sikora.
Ruban also did well with the boys tennis program and was one of the few coaches I covered that was named Coach of the Year in each sport when I worked at The New Jersey Herald.
So we will see what the future holds, but until then add another coaching opening in hoops in the Mugs Media area.
In other Sussex Tech coaching news, Keiper also told me that she has nominated Wallkill Valley assistant coach Bob Leach to become the school’s next head football coach.
Leach would replace Steve Massoti, who brought the program back to varsity play three years ago. The board will vote on May 26.
The Mustangs went 2-25 the last three seasons, which included two forfeit wins.
“He brings a lot of enthusiasm and energy,” said Keiper of the former Pope John and Delaware Valley College standout. “He also has some great ideas of what he wants to do with the program. It will be a good fit.”
COACHING CARUSEL--- Wallkill is not the only school looking for a coach. Newton has an opening for both the boys and girls jobs.
Boys coach John Davey will not be back and Mugs Media has learned that girls coach Bridget Jones has stepped down to concentrate on nursing school.
Newton has not publicly named new coaches but as I said in a previous blog, former Newton star Eric DuCharme would be a great fit at Newton with the boys.
DuCharme was an assistant at Pope John last season under coach Mark Young. Young stepped down and PJ hired former St. Anthony assistant Jason Hasson. DuCharme did a nice job at Kittatinny and even got the Cougars to the SCIL Festival final a few years back.
An interesting note here on the Newton job. Former coach Dirk Kelly, who had tremendous success with the Braves in between Davey’s coaching stints, did not run for re-election on the Newton board of education.
Why is this relevant? Kelly’s son, Steven, is a very promising freshman who played a ton of minutes last season and now that he is not a board member Dirk Kelly is eligible for the coaching position.
It will be interesting to see if the elder Kelly throws his hat in the ring.
And in one final coaching move, Joanne Hoover, the fiery head coach of the Lenape Valley field hockey team has called it quits.
Hoover said she wanted to spend more time with her family, especially her two children.
Lenape, which went 1-15-2 last year, was always solid and very competitive under Hoover and a team no one ever wanted to play, especially at Lenape’s small homefield. Hoover was named the Mugs Media Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2005 for her efforts.
I will miss Hoover’s passion for the game and her up front and honest nature. The proud Lenape Valley graduate always made my job easier, so Joanne enjoy your time away from the game and maybe one day you will be back on the sidelines if Lenape Valley is so fortunate.
That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.
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