Sports
Coach Righter Gets Win No. 400
Athletic Director Dave Katis presents Coach Ron Righter with plaque for his 400th career win as head coach. (Courtesy Photo / The Clarion Call
On Sunday, Nov. 20, the Clarion University men’s basketball team picked up a much needed win against East Stroudsburg University.
With the win, Head Coach Ron Righter picked up his 400th career victory.
That is a pretty impressive feat at any level of coaching.
“I’m glad we got it done early in the season; we can move on. It’s of course a nice accomplishment. It was a team type deal, it wasn’t just about me, it’s about
Clarion University and even Wilkes University,” Coach Righter said of this historic milestone.
Assistant Coach Al Modrejewski has been at Clarion with Coach Righter for 19 of Righter’s 24 seasons here.
“It’s a tremendous accomplishment. It tells you a couple things about a coach. One, you are a very good coach, and number two is the longevity aspect of it. I
just feel very fortunate I’ve been a part of most of those wins,” Modrejewski said.
“Coach Al is a loyal guy. He is a guy you can’t replace. He’s by far the most loyal guy I’ve ever seen in any Division,” Coach Righter said of his long-time
assistant.
The game in which he picked up number 400 was not an easy one for the Golden Eagles.
After leading for the entire first half, Clarion found itself down after a 10-0 ESU run.
Both teams would battle down the stretch, exchanging the lead multiple times.
Neither team led by more than seven the entire contest.
In the end though, Clarion would get the final lead.
On a play designed for a two-man game with freshman Winfield Willis and junior Calvin Edwards, ESU almost got the steal. The keyword is almost.
Willis drove and dribbled the ball off his foot, and somehow Edwards came up with it. Edwards then pump faked and ESU committed the cardinal sin of jump
shooters: a foul.
Edwards went to the free throw line for three shots with Clarion down one.
He nailed all three, after the ESU crowd was all over him the entire game.
“I knew when they fouled him, he was struggling the whole game, that he was going to make them,” Righter said of Edwards.
Paul McQueen led the scoring for Clarion with 16 points, 15 coming in the first half.
“Bud” Teer had a monster game with 15 points and 17 rebounds.
Edwards finished with seven points. David Colbert and Mike Kromka, also played well for the Golden Eagles.
Coach Righter wasn’t even aware of his historic win until he got on the team bus to go home.
He was greeted by both the men’s and women’s basketball teams with a song about his win.
“I got on the bus, and there was like a singing going on. I thought it was somebody’s birthday until I heard what they were singing. It meant a lot knowing that
the ladies’ team and our team came together for that moment,” Righter said.
Righter said his most memorable win as a coach was when Clarion beat West Chester for the PSAC Championship and earned a bid for the NCAA Division II Tournament.
On Tuesday, Nov. 29, Clarion honored Coach Righter before the Golden Eagles took on Susquehanna.
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