St. Paul hires Patrick Roy as boys basketball coach

Newly named boys basketball coach, Patrick Roy, stands inside the gym at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs on Wednesday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)

SANTA FE SPRINGS – A new era has begun at St. Paul High School on the basketball court with the announcement of a new coach for the boys team.

The hiring of a highly successful basketball coach, Patrick Roy, was announced Tuesday by Athletic Director Rich Avina.

“This is a great day and a great fit for St. Paul basketball,” Avina said. “Throughout the process, we were looking for someone that can continue to enhance what our program has been over the last few years.

“Coach Roy is that man that can develop and strengthen our program at all levels. He is a coach that is going to ensure our student-athletes develop into great men. “We’re real happy to be working with him.”

Over 500 wins as a coach

“I think it’s a very good opportunity and I look forward to coming in with a bunch of new guys that were very successful last year,” said Roy, who has a lifetime record of 502 wins and 123 losses. “It’s a little bit of pressure, but I think that I can come in and continue the success here.

“I’m looking to have a successful season and our student-athletes go on to prestigious institutions of learning. That’s my objective. The key to my success is just hard work and that’s a big, big factor in me having success. I’m going to outwork my opponent, be transparent, be a good guy and follow the rules.”

Roy comes to St. Paul by way of Inglewood High, which won two CIF Championships (1994, 2004). He was head coach for 25 years, starting in 1993.

Roy has coached a few former professional players, in particular former Boston Celtics forward and 10-time All Star Paul Pierce, who started at Inglewood.

“Obviously, Paul Pierce and me have a lot of history and met him as a 14-year-old as a freshman,” Roy remembered. “I was the junior varsity coach and he played on my team. When I became varsity coach, he moved up and played as a sophomore and I watched him blossom and the rest is history.”

Pierce, a former 19-year NBA veteran, once said he considered Roy his mentor. Pierce went on to win a championship with the Celtics in 2008.

Roy, who was named ESPN, California State and CIF-SS Coach of the Year multiple times, inherits a St. Paul team that finished 12-2, was the Camino Real League Champions (7-1) and advanced to the CIF Quarterfinals last season.

Swordsmen return five All-League players

The Swordsmen, who lost to Marina in the quarterfinals, 60-59, lost only one player from that team and have four First-Team, All-League selections – 7’-1” senior center Sidy Dialo, senior forward Dorian Tate, senior forward Danny Patton, Jr. and league MVP and All-CIF point guard, Allen Moser.

Also returning is senior guard Isaiah Dunn, who was selected to the Camino Real All-Second Team.

Leading those teams that brought success to St. Paul was former coach Damaine Powell, who moved on to coach at Loyola High.

“Damaine helped turn the program around in the 2014-15 season,” said Avina, who is also the St. Paul boys volleyball coach.

Powell took over a team that won only three games in the 2013-14 season and eventually led his team to a CIF title appearance in the 2017, losing by just a point, 69-68, to Twentynine Palms. The Swordsmen also advanced to the CIF State playoffs.

Powell’s teams won 112 games in his seven years, which included four champion or co-champions in league.

St. Paul principal Robert Miller, who was present at the introduction of Roy to the parents in a Wednesday meeting, knows a little bit about basketball and was elated about the hiring.

Newly named boys basketball coach, Patrick Roy, talks with parents and players during the parent's meeting at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs on Wednesday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)

“I’m extremely excited about this hire,” said Miller, who has been both the boys and girls varsity basketball coach. “I’m proud to be able to continue the tradition that Damaine Powell started in terms of taking us to a final and getting us in a real competitive situation.

“We had the opportunity to hire a potential Hall of Fame high school coach. He’s been loyal and committed to the programs and schools he’s been at before and wants to come here and build something special with student-athletes at St. Paul High School.”

Roy summed up his excitement of coaching after a small break from coaching after he left Inglewood.

“I’m just looking to jump back into it with both feet,” he said. “I miss it for the time that I was away from it, but I’m looking forward to getting back into it in a big time way and I’m looking forward to continuing in the legacy here and have a successful team.”

What they said:

Patrick Roy: “If the fan base really supports the team, I hope it will continue and I hope I can build on that. Everything that they have done in the past I want to build on it and be part of this new family. Santa Fe Springs is looking great to me.”

Robert Miller, St. Paul Principal: “The first thing is that he is humble. Roy has coached 90 guys who played in college, he knows a bunch of college coaches, he knows some NBA guys as well and he does not drop those names.

“Actually, a lot of those stories I heard about him weren’t from him but from other people. He has a commitment to discipline and having a standard to follow and also being committed to the classroom.”

Mary Anderson, St. Paul Director of Finance: “I am so proud of our boys and know that coach (Patrick) Roy will continue to help mold them into wonderful young men. He brings a wealth of experience to our school.”

Rich Avina, St. Paul Athletic Director: “Anytime you get the opportunity to move forward, that’s great. We’ve had success in the past and to hire somebody in terms of coach Roy that makes you feel confident, that you’re just going to continue to grow. It’s really about saying, hey, you’re the coach, let’s go, it’s time and we were able to do that (Wednesday). The families were excited.”

St. Paul softball holds clinics for kids

Girls ages 10-14 practice bunting drills during the Swordsmen Softball Summer Camp at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs on Tuesday. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)

The St. Paul softball team wrapped up its final youth softball camp of the summer on Thursday afternoon. The program hosted four two-day camps for local area youth, ranging from ages 4-14.

The camps were designed for young athletes to learn, develop and enhance their softball skills in all phases of the game. The camps included offensive and defensive training, such as batting practice, team drills, individual defensive drills, throwing and base running.

“The skills the girls learn at our camps will make them a better player in the field and a better person off the field,” St. Paul Softball coach Charles Gandara said.

Both Gandara and Keith Durflinger, the head JV coach, provided some of the instruction during the camp.

However, the bulk of the instruction came from current St. Paul players, Gaby Gandara, Hannah Moreno, Andrea Tellez, Brooke Camacho, Sophia Arvizu, Maybellene Ledesma, Julissa Detrinidad, Abbey Duarte, Tiffany Cuevas and Jenessa Hindson.

In addition, 2021 graduates Jayne Sepulveda (Southern Utah University) and Nadine Marquez (Cardinal Stritch University) also helped in the clinics.

“It’s not mandatory for any players to volunteer to help at the camps.” Gandara added. “But we stress the importance of giving back and our players enthusiastically volunteer their time to teach and pass along their knowledge and love of the game to the younger girls.”

The Swordsmen softball program will host its next youth camp in late December.