Everything old is new again for Westmoreland hoops coaches

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, December 24, 2017 | 12:19 AM

Just because coaches spend years teaching basketball and pacing the sidelines at dozens of games does not mean they are experts on the sport.

The game evolves. Players change in style and attitude. New systems arise, and coaches borrow from one another.

So when names of the past get back into the game, eager to give coaching another go-round, the passage is not always smooth and continuous.

Old — OK, veteran — dogs can learn new tricks.

Jim Nesser and Rick Klimchock have been involved in Westmoreland County basketball for decades. Both took a break from the head-coaching grind but returned this season rejuvenated and looking to stare down a new challenge.

Nesser is the new boys coach at his alma mater, Greensburg Central Catholic, which is rebuilding after losing arguably its top seven players to graduation and transfers.

Klimchock is running the show at Greensburg Salem, where his daughter, Laura, and son, Chris, were standouts.

The veteran coaches are on one end of the coaching spectrum. Four other newcomers are on the other, also leading county teams this season.

It's a blend of old and young, the vintage and the blossoming.

• Steve Scorpion is the boys coach at Franklin Regional, where he was star guard before playing at Pitt-Johnstown. He has the Panthers off to a 6-0 start, their best in more than two decades.

• William Tyler Johnson is in charge of the Derry girls, moving over from the AAU and small-college scene.

• Lindsy Muchnock is heading up the Hempfield girls. The Latrobe grad was the head coach last year at Plum but used to be a Hempfield assistant under Aaron Epps. The Spartans are 2-4.

• And the new girls coach at Yough is Mike Gerdich, who played at McKeesort and Saint Vincent. He is trying to release Yough from the clutches of a 20-game losing streak.

Hempfield was Nesser's most recent stop. He coached the Spartans from 2009-13 after leading Jeannette for three years, a short-but-prosperous stint that included WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2008.

He also coached at Elizabeth Forward, Yough, Penn State Greater Allegheny and Seton Hill.

GCC was 25-2 last season.

This year's team had that many losses in as many days into the season. But the Centurions (1-6) have been in most of the games, meaning they are playing hard and heeding Nesser's distinctively voiced calls.

“We're getting there,” said Nesser, 57, who teaches at Yough. “Our kids are learning how to play together. We need to get more gritty. As long as we can improve each day, I am happy with the kids and what we're doing.”

Klimchock, 60, was the boys coach at Jeannette for 14 years and later coached the Franklin Regional girls for six seasons. An about-them-not-me coach, Klimchock saw a golden opportunity with the Golden Lions, who are 2-4 heading into the holidays.

Former coach Lisa Mankins, Klimchock's predecessor, has helped him with his return. He already has youth travel teams in motion, along with district-wide skills clinics.

“The transition has been great,” he said. “Our players have been wonderful. My kind of kids. Hey, they are Greensburg people like me. We get each other.”

Scorpion, 34, started his coaching career as an assistant at Franklin Regional a decade ago. He left to coach AAU before landing a two-year gig at The Kiski School, so high-school basketball is not a new concept.

Scorpion has an experienced and lengthy Franklin Regional team playing well together. He recently mentioned how one of the Panthers' opponents was taking on the personality of its coach. Is Franklin Regional doing the same?

“I hope so,” Scorpion said. “I can get emotional out there, but I'm passionate. (Basketball) is my life. This is what I do. It's not some extracurricular thing for me, and I love it. I was in these locker rooms. I wore those same colors … I opened this court my junior year. I love these kids, and I hope they understand that and see it and take a little after me.”

Johnson, a Mt. Pleasant grad, was an assistant on men's coaching staffs at Cal (Pa.) and Pitt-Greensburg. He continues to work for the Strick Hoops AAU program.

Derry (0-6) is seeking its first win of the season.

“The biggest transition for myself has been going from giving suggestions as an assistant to actually making the decision,” Johnson said. “Another big difference is coming from the men's side to the women's side of basketball. Girls are just as talented in their own way, but they learn differently. It's a great way to expand my knowledge of how to teach people the game.”

Klimchock, who was the eighth-grade coach at GCC last year, loves game preparation and practice, some might argue, more than the games themselves.

“Going forward, we will have more depth,” he said. “That being said, I love the makeup of this team. Our toughness and heart are on display at all times.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield Area, Yough