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Haverford School offers Bernie Rogers more than just coaching

05/12/2015, 5:15pm EDT

By Jeff Neiburg

Jeff Neiburg (@Jeff_Neiburg)
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For 15 years, Bernie Rogers walked the sidelines as the head coach of his alma mater, Archbishop Ryan.

For those 15 years, Rogers has taught in the School District of Philadelphia and had to spend extra time traveling from work to his coaching duties.

So when The Haverford School offered Rogers an opportunity to teach and coach in one location, following the resignation of former coach Henry Fairfax, the chance was one Rogers couldn’t say no to.

“I’ve never really had the opportunity to teach and coach in the same spot,” Rogers said. “It’s something that interests me long-term. For 15 years I’ve been teaching in one spot, traveling, and coaching in another.”

Rogers, who was a first-team All-Catholic League selection back in 1992, leaves Ryan as the first alumnus coach in the school’s boys basketball history.

“I knew it could come some day, but you never know when,” Rogers said of leaving. “I feel really blessed to get the opportunity to have given back to my alma mater.

“I knew if I did leave it would be tough, and it was tough. I put so much time in as a player, as a student, as a coach. And when I talked to my team I kind of explained to them that it really had nothing to do with coaching as much as it was me simplifying my life to teach and coach in the same spot, which I think in the long run will make it easier for my own family.”

What won’t be simple is the rebuilding job Rogers will have to do at his new job.

Fairfax isn’t the only person leaving the program. The Fords will be without their top four scorers from last season’s team that went 17-11 (7-3, Inter-Ac), two of which to graduation.

Levan Alston and his 19.6 ppg are off to Temple. Derek Mountain’s 6.7 ppg are gone to a football career at Holy Cross.

The Haverford School was supposed to feature a starting five with two returning stars in rising senior wing Lamar Stevens (18.4 ppg) and rising sophomore guard Cameron Reddish (12.5 ppg), but the two decided to transfer.

Stevens is expected to be enrolled at Roman Catholic next fall and Reddish is deciding between Westtown and Friends’ Central.

“I guess it’s goin to be a fresh start for all of them,” Rogers said of the returning group. “Obviously you’d love for Lamar and Cameron to be there, that talent level is exciting. But you just go with what you have and I’m sure there are kids who are hungry to show what they can do.”

In total, Haverford lost eight seniors and the two transfers. Only rising seniors Micah Sims and Josh Ridenhour saw significant minutes last year on a team that typically played just 5-7 players per game.

Rogers’ job won’t be easy, at least not to start. But the goal remains the same: to win league titles and create a program.

“Of course we want to compete for our league title every year,” Rogers said. “You want to get to the point where the culture in your program is ongoing and kids enjoy their experience. We had a lot of success at Ryan with kids coming back and coaching and staying with the program. I kind of want to build that mindset of a winning culture and a culture where kids really value the experience that they got being on the team and want to give back to, not only the team, but the school that they went to.”

Rogers said he had conversed with Fairfax - who is still the school’s Director of Admissions - via email and is looking forward to getting on campus in the next few weeks to get further insight into the school and the basketball program.

The successor to Rogers at Ryan has not been named yet. Rogers said the job had to be posted by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for a certain amount of time before the search could be dwindled down.

But whoever inherits what Rogers left behind is in good hands. Ryan has a solid core returning with three seniors: point guard Austin Slawter (7.6 ppg) and wings Austin Chabot (13.5 ppg) and Freddie Killian (4 ppg). Rising junior and leading scorer, 6-foot-2 guard Izaiah Brockington, led the team in scoring last year at 14.8 ppg.

“I think the team is really ready to keep getting better,” Rogers said of Ryan. “They have a lot of young guys who got a lot of playing experience the last few years.

“I will always follow Ryan very closely.”