Legendary Shore Conference basketball coach George Sourlis is back, but at a new school

Veteran high school basketball coach George Sourlis is returning to the sidelines - this time for a new school and in a new role.

Michael Stoia, Red Bank Regional's Director of Athletics and Activities, said on Wednesday that the former Rumson-Fair Haven girls basketball coach is on the Wednesday meeting agenda for the Red Bank Regional High School District Board of Education to become the next boys basketball coach at Red Bank Regional.

"We put together a hiring committee and had plenty of qualified applicants. He stood out because he has a proven system that worked in a public school setting. He established a culture of success for his athletes on and off the court," Stoia said. "His defensive mindset is going to be prevalent in our style of play. One thing is certain, RBR's opponents will have to play 32 minutes."

Sourlis, 59, retired following the 2016 season as Rumson-Fair Haven's girls basketball coach after 30 years, 653 wins, 199 losses, 14 NJSIAA sectional titles, five NJSIAA overall group titles along with five appearances in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions.

"Coaching boys basketball is something I’ve always wanted to do. It is an exciting challenge for me," Sourlis said. "I’m equally touched by the number of text messages that I’ve received from some of my former girls basketball players cheering me on.”

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Sourlis rejoins the Shore Conference basketball coaching fraternity by taking over at Red Bank for former Red Bank boys basketball Scott Martin, who stepped down after 21 seasons.

When Sourlis started his head coaching career, he was only 23 years old and was hired as an out-of-the-building girls basketball coach at Rumson-Fair Haven. In three decades of coaching at one location, he built the Bulldogs into a Shore Conference powerhouse program.

Now, he doesn't have to change much of his daily routine to step into the role of coaching the boys basketball program at Red Bank Regional.

“Personally, I would tell you that the fact that it was Red Bank Regional mattered," Sourlis said. "I work in Red Bank. My office is in Red Bank. I live in Rumson. I can be at practice in five minutes.”

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Red Bank Regional High School and Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School are only 2.6 miles away from each other in Little Silver and Rumson, respectively, and the schools have a "Ridge Road Rivalry" in several sports.

In 2020, the Asbury Park Press in its Shore Conference greatest coaches series named Sourlis as the 13th best coach in Shore Conference history.

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The only basketball coaches on the APP's all-time greatest list ahead of Sourlis were former CBA coach Ed Wicelinski at No. 10 and Red Bank Catholic girls basketball coach Joe Montano at No. 9.

Sourlis will meet with prospective players and their parents on Thursday, May 10 at Red Bank Regional High School, according to a tweet from @RBRathletics on Monday, May 2.

"He was the right candidate for RBR because even though he had a distinguished resume, it wasn't about himself. He talked about helping build on RBR's already rich tradition and involving various members of the community," Stoia said. "Our goal is to keep our kids home at RBR. We had a lot of success this year under coach Martin and the team had to overcome injuries. Coach Sourlis wants to build on Coach Martin's success."

Sherlon Christie is a sports reporter at the Asbury Park Press and has covered sports at the Jersey Shore since 2004. Don't miss any of his coverage by subscribing at https://subscribe.app.com. You can contact him at https://linktr.ee/schristie2

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: George Sourlis returning to coaching for Red Bank Regional boys team