Hall leaves boys’ program

Acorn Staff Writer


There have been bigger schools with bigger players, but none has quite matched the big-hearted team from Oak Park High since 1991.


That was the year Rob Hall came aboard to coach boys’ basketball for the Eagles, the start of a delightful 10-year run in which Oak Park averaged 15 wins a season and won five Tri-Valley League titles.


Sadly for Oak Park fans, Hall announced last week that he’s resigning from the team because he wants spend more time with his wife and four young children.


"It’s getting to the point to where as they get older it’s harder to follow their activities," Hall said. "You just go under water from Halloween through the end of February … You just disappear. It’s difficult to do that anymore."


The popular coach won’t be out of sight totally.


Hall, 37, will remain at the school as the boys’ tennis coach and American government teacher.


This season, ironically, was Hall’s best.


Even with star center Jeremy Murphy out of the lineup because of illness, the 19-9 Eagles made it to the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division IV playoff semifinals, their best showing in Hall’s 10 years as head coach.


"This was perhaps my strangest season in a lot of ways," Hall said. "This team was an overachiever at the end, and at some points during the season, an underachiever. There were times when we were at full strength we could have played better and when we lost some players and got to the point where he were probably overmatched, we came up with some big wins.


"It was a strange roller-coaster kind of a year. But every season is like that. You ride the highs and suffer through the lows."


Starting at the bottom is where Hall began.


He took over a program that went 0-20 the year before he arrived, had never captured a Tri-Valley League title or won a playoff game. A decade later, Hall had won 157 games and lost 93. The Eagles made the playoffs every year and advanced to the quarterfinals six times.


"We rode the backs of a lot of good players to build a program," Hall said matter-of-factly. But coaching had to be a factor.


Hall also spent one season in charge of the Oak Park girls’ basketball program and still advises current coach Lindsay Strothers about on-court matters. The Eagle girls won the CIF Southern Section title last weekend and advanced to state.


"Rob Hall is not only a phenomenal coach but a phenomenal person," said Tom Pichotta, the junior varsity coach named as Hall’s interim successor.


Pichotta, a former freshman/sophomore coach who served as Hall’s varsity assistant for the past three years, posted a 20-5 record with his JV boys, their best finish ever.


Returning to the Eagle starting lineup next year will be Grant Smith, Ventura County’s leading three-point shooter, Monte McNair, a top point guard and Nick Smith, an up-and-comer.


Figure Rob Hall won’t be too far from the sidelines either, enjoying the sport that he’s always loved.





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