1,000 wins: St. Augustine basketball coach Paul Rodio makes history with victory

BUENA VISTA – Paul Rodio stepped onto the court with his head lowered, almost as if he was afraid to see the support.

The applause began, he put his left hand out to the side and said a hushed thank you to a fan on the bleachers.

The St. Augustine Prep basketball team was facing Ocean City Wednesday, but the Hermits’ legendary coach realized, on this night, the crowd came for him.

“The doctor’s here that saved my life,” he said afterward.

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Rodio tried his best to keep his players focused on the game itself, but they knew what victory meant.

“You can’t lose,” junior Elijah Brown said of the team’s mindset. “There’s too many people here counting on this moment.”

Indeed, Paul A. Rodio Gymnasium was full of family, friends and alumni waiting to celebrate history.

They witnessed it as the Hermits gritted out a 50-41 triumph over the Red Raiders and gave Rodio his 1,000th career victory. He’s just the second boys coach ever in New Jersey to accomplish the feat, joining St. Anthony’s Bob Hurley (1,185).

“I’m just overwhelmed by that, more with how long I’ve been doing this and how many people that are here that I’ve affected, all of that is just as important, if not more important than the 1,000 wins,” he said. “I’m just happy to do it in here with all kinds of former players and people here, family.”

Rodio (1,000-255) was visibly emotional as he went to his wife Bonnie for a postgame hug. He teared up as he embraced family member after family member at center court, where the packed house watched a video on the giant projector screen showcasing some of Rodio’s most memorable moments in his 46-year career. He choked up as he held a framed poster celebrating his achievement and thanked the Richland Rowdies, who unveiled a giant “Paul Rodio 1,000 wins” banner.

“The numbers are mindboggling,” said Ocean City coach John Bruno. “I said to the kids today, he’s won more games than I’ve coached and I’ve coached 34 years.”

Even Rodio’s family had trouble grasping the accomplishment.

Steven Rodio, Paul’s youngest child, has a phone full of congratulatory messages. He’s lost track of all the people that have reached out.

“It’s guys that played with the team, it’s guys that coached with him, it’s guys that watched games over the years, it’s guys that come to his camps, it’s kids that were friends with me, friends of the family, people that followed the program, people that had coffee with him once a week, it’s every walk of life,” the 2011 St. Augustine Prep graduate said. “Anybody that’s played for the program or anybody that’s ever known him has reached out to me including people like (former Villanova basketball coach) Jay Wright, Bobby Hurley, guys that are in the Naismith Hall of Fame. It’s all feels.”

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Yet, it wasn’t until the game was over, that it all sunk in.

“We always kind of took it for granted,” said Steven, who won a state championship with his father in 2011, one of five for the elder Rodio, “but as it was happening, and the more research I do and I understood the significance of it, the more surreal it got. It feels fake. I look at him in an entirely different light right now. I never put him on the pedestal he’s on, but reading about it in the paper, text messages, hearing from people, seeing how he’s impacted lives, I don’t think it’ll ever hit me to be honest with you. I’ll never be able to put it into words what it means to us.”

It’s why so many people came out to be a part of it.

“There’s no way I’m missing this game,” said Isaiah Morton, St. Augustine’s all-time leading scorer, who made the drive from Cherry Hill.

Wednesday’s win was history and may never be seen again.

“Nobody coaches that long anymore to do it,” said Rodio, who spent 35 days in the hospital before last season due to blood clots that forced emergency surgery. “That’s the problem. When I did it, I never thought I’d be here that long.”

The longevity is what made it special. It’s the fact that the team’s leading scorer and rebounder against the Red Raiders, Matt Kouser (18 points, 11 boards), is the son of one of Rodio’s former 1,000-point scorers, Michael Kouser (1997).

“He didn’t want us to talk about it,” Matt said. “We tried to keep it just focusing on getting better for the season and he tried to do his best not to make it about him, but we all realized how special of moment it was.”

Following the postgame congratulations, Rodio slipped on a varsity jacket just before he left Buondonno Forum with his family to go celebrate.

He still hadn’t been able to fully appreciate the magnitude of what he’d done.

“One day I’ll realize how big it is,” he said. “Today, it’s a number. I won it. God bless.”

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Game notes

• In addition to Kouser’s big night, Brown had 10 points and 7 assists and Ife Okebiorun posted 8 points and 9 rebounds.

• Credit to Ocean City, which made St. Augustine work 32 minutes to get the victory. The Red Raiders went up 37-36 with 2:06 left in the third quarter on Dylan Schlatter’s layup, but the Hermits followed with a 9-0 run to seize control from there.“I thought one of our best moments was when (the Richland Rowdies) said start the buses with five seconds left,” Bruno said. “You’re going to come to the Prep, they’re going to the start the buses (chant) with five seconds left, you must’ve played a pretty good game.”

They said it

“My whole life and my whole childhood put into one moment was what tonight was. It was icing on the cake for everything I’ve ever dreamed of growing up and watching my dad coach.”

– Steven Rodio on his father Paul Rodio's 1,000th win

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: St. Augustine basketball coach Paul Rodio captures win No. 1,000