Romanus has Pioneers on right track
There have been many nights riding school buses across Western Pennsylvania and even more spent away from home, but seasons such as this one and the memories made are what have fueled Jim Romanus during his 33-year head-coaching career.
From losing a key player to a serious concussion in a 99-25 loss at Monessen and breaking the WPIAL’s longest playoff drought, Romanus’ West Greene boys basketball team has experienced nearly every emotion a season can bring.
Now, the Pioneers (12-8) are set to make the program’s first playoff appearance since 1993, when they play Vincentian Academy (14-7) Tuesday (8 p.m.) at Canon-McMillan. It will also mark Romanus’ first time coaching a playoff game since 2002, when he was the head boys basketball coach at Jefferson-Morgan.
He’s been hired, let go and rehired during his career, and each of his positions have brought their fair share of challenges, memories and teenagers who benefitted from his player-first approach to coaching.
His latest stop and second tenure as West Greene’s boys basketball coach has Romanus feeling at home.
“I love coaching, I really do. It’s been a very long, long journey,” Romanus said. “It’s very rewarding to break this streak. I’m really proud of these kids, and we’re climbing the ladder.”
As a young teacher and assistant girls basketball coach at Bishop Canevin in the mid-1970s, Romanus marveled at the style of basketball being played around Pittsburgh. He admired the up-tempo, in-your-face style and hoped he’d one day coach a similar system.
His head-coaching career began at West Greene and lasted four seasons before he was hired for the same position at Jefferson-Morgan.
Romanus coached the Rockets for two decades, including a stretch of three consecutive section titles, and though his teams did not play a style like those “in the north,” they were sound defensively, shot with accuracy and adopted Romanus’ cool demeanor in the face of adversity.
Over a four-year stretch from the 1998-99 season to 2001-02 under Romanus, Jefferson-Morgan went 41-7 in section play and 74-28 overall. In the 1999 WPIAL Class A playoffs, Jefferson-Morgan beat Monessen in the first round before losing to St. Joseph in the quarterfinals.
The following year, J-M was the No. 2 seed and reached the WPIAL semifinals. They earned a PIAA first-round win over Forbes Road, a first for the program. The Rockets lost to eventual state champion Kennedy Christian (now Kennedy Catholic) in the second round.
That success came after the program endured a 74-game losing streak – the longest recorded in WPIAL history – that lasted more than three seasons from 1987-1991.
Romanus’ job was opened following the 2007 season, and he received a phone call from West Greene athletic director Billy Simms, who had an opening for a head girls basketball coach. Romanus, who has taught in the district for the last 38 years, was going home.
His stint lasted for four seasons, and when Simms was looking for a coach to take over the struggling boys basketball program in 2011, he didn’t have to look far.
Romanus inherited a program on a 27-game losing streak and with only one win in the previous three seasons. The Pioneers were searching for an identity and belief that playoff basketball was possible at West Greene.
The Pioneers were 7-56 in his first three seasons, including a 0-20 record in 2012-13, but they came within one win and a rough fourth quarter last season against Jefferson-Morgan of a playoff berth.
West Greene finished third in Section 3-A this year with a roster that has no seniors and will put its old-fashioned style that relies on post moves and passing against Vincentian’s run-and-gun, up-tempo attack that is similar to the basketball Romanus admired as a young coach.
He’ll turn to a deep and talented roster led by a towering duo down low – juniors Craig Weaver (6-8) and Kolton Rush (6-5).
“Who knows, maybe we’ll throw a shock into some people,” Romanus said. “No one expected us to get to where we’re at. I tell the guys to enjoy it and have fun. Hopefully, our style throws them off a bit.”
Throughout his career Romanus has taken teams that did not qualify for the postseason to the WPIAL championship games at Palumbo Center and Petersen Events Center to experience the excitement and see what it takes to play for a chmpionship. Before his successful run at Jefferson-Morgan, he had his players take photos of Palumbo Center to hang above their beds, and he told them to dream big.
His players still follow that message.
“It’s almost like the movie, ‘Hoosiers,'” Romanus said. “I don’t think we’ll get to that level, but at West Greene we’ve come a long way. At one time, we were the worst team in the WPIAL and now these kids are in the playoffs, looking for a win.”
Lance Lysowski can be reached at llysowski@observer-reporter.com