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SoCalHoops HS Coaching News

Inland Valley HS Coaches
Are Confused & Confusing--(May 17, 2001)

Talk about not knowing whether you're coming or going. . . you're really in trouble if you coach in the Inland Valley region (e.g., Pomona). Why? Here's why:

Going & Coming : Claremont's Loss Is Ganesha's Gain: Ganesha has ended its search for a new boys' basketball coach and the school has stated its intention to hire current Claremont HS assistant coach coach Joe Tremblay. Tremblay, a 26-year-old Damien High player worked with Mike Bateman as his defensive coordinator, helping Claremont improve from a 6-20 record to 22-5 this past season. The Wolfpack limited opponents to 58.3 points per game and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division I-A semifinals this season, losing to CIF State Division I champion Mater Dei. Tremblay, who teaches history at Claremont was among the finalists for the Claremont job before the school announced that Ontario Coach Jerry De Fabiis was selected for that job. Ganesha finished 15-12 this season, losing in the first round of the Division III-AA playoffs. Tremblay's parents reside in Pomona and his father, Remi Tremblay, was a longtime high school boys' basketball coach at Anaheim Servite, leading them to the Southern Section 2-A championship in 1965. He also coached at Bonita High.

Going & Going: Fontana Job Opens Up As McNally Leaves: It's apparently true. . .we've been reading for the past few days on the message board that Fontana HS head coach John McNally (who incidentally also coached at Damien when Joe Tremblay was a player there, along with Mike Bateman and Dan Haasch of Buckley) had reportedly resigned as coach at Fontana. . . .and tonight we got some confirmation of the rumor and it appears to be true. While we haven't had a chance to speak with McNally, the word is that he also applied for and was almost going to take the Claremont head job (after it reopened, see below) but decided against taking the job. No word yet on where McNally will finally wind up coaching, but sources tell us that he's still going to teach at Fontana unless something better opens up.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?: DeFabiis Out At Claremont--Today's LA Times confirmed another tidbit that appeared here on the message board several days ago: Jerry De Fabiis has backed out as Claremont High's boys' basketball coach Wednesday, two weeks and a day after being named the new head coach there and announcing that he would give up the job at Ontario. Apparently the big hang up is that DeFabiis is missing some units towards his teaching credential. He taught history on an emergency credential at Ontario, but that would not satisfy the Claremont administration. According to the Times, "A Claremont source said De Fabiis, who was due to teach history at the school, told officials he realized after accepting their position that he was lacking more units than he anticipated in pursuit of his teaching credential at Chapman University in Orange." Claremont Athletic Director Rick Dutton told the Times that a search for a new coach will begin immediately. . . but evidently it won't include Fontana Coach John McNally. According to the Times, De Fabiis will continue on as a history teacher at Ontario next season, but will not coach. "I got into this to teach, and coaching was a bonus," De Fabiis, a married father of two children, told the Times. "Teaching is 95% of your salary."