Published: May 13, 2015
Kewaskum names Gruber new coach
Graduated from school in 1975
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
To move on from a rocky ending, Don Gruber will return to a
familiar place: Kewaskum.
Gruber has been named the boys basketball coach at Kewaskum,
returning to his alma mater.
The hiring was approved by the Kewaskum School Board at its
Monday night meeting.
Gruber replaces Keith Traska, who went 22-47 in three
seasons for the Indians.
For Gruber, it is an opportunity to coach in a community he
grew up in, play at the school where he played three sports and graduated from
in 1975, but also to move on from his rocky departure as the West Bend East
girls basketball coach.
“I think it really helps me to keep moving forward,” Gruber
said Tuesday. “When I applied online, at first I was hesitant, but once I
filled out the application, for me, it gave me a little freedom.”
Gruber was fired after six seasons as the East girls
basketball coach March 23. He went 54-87 in that span.
His firing was met with tension from supporters of the East
basketball program because of Gruber’s dedication and commitment to the
program. In the weeks that followed, controversy swirled over Gruber and the
Suns program over unaccounted jerseys, which led to a handful of girls being
declared ineligible. That has since been cleared up, and West Bend School
District Superintendent Ted Neitzke apologized for how the situation was
handled.
East Athletic Director Shane Hansen, who fired Gruber, has
not commented on the situation.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to coach again after going
through what I did,” Gruber said.
Kewaskum’s athletic director Jason Piittmann wasn’t able to
comment when reached as he was hosting the Eastern Wisconsin Conference Track
and Field Relay championship meet, but he did confirm Gruber’s hiring.
The Kewaskum job will be the first time Gruber will be a
boys coach. He said he’s worked with boys players in individual situations.
“The game is quicker,” Gruber said. “The first thing I did
was I downloaded all 23 games of Kewaskum boys from last year and started
watching them. I’ve got about eight or nine watched. The game is much faster,
much quicker and they can do more things.”
Gruber has coached girls for 20 years.
He has a familiar face helping him out, too.
Russ Thull is the girls basketball coach at Kewaskum and is
a former assistant for Gruber at East. Thull was the freshman coach at East for
the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
“I think he’s a great fit for the program,” Thull said.
“He’s going to bring a lot to the table in terms of experience and he does a
great job of working with the student-athletes and developing their game.”
Gruber was worried about getting into coaching so soon after
being let go at East.
But the Kewaskum job was almost the perfect job at the right
time.
“I didn’t want to wallow in that,” Gruber said about his
firing at East. “I needed to move forward.”
“It feels soothing to go back to your roots and where you
have a lot of fond memories,” he added.
Thull is glad his mentor is back in coaching.
“He’s someone I respect a ton as a person and as a coach,”
Thull said.
Gruber said Don Hauser will be one of his assistants. Hauser
was an assistant during Gruber’s tenure at East.
The rest of the staff hasn’t been filled, and Gruber said
he’s met with the team and likes what he’s seen on tape.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Gruber said. “I’m ready to go.”
No comments:
Post a Comment