Mike Vukovcan 385-118 career record, 11 section titles, 187-20 section record, 4 WPIAL Championships, 2 PIAA Championships, induction into the Beaver County and Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame.
That’s the resume of Hopewell’s new boys high school basketball coach. Tonight, the Hopewell Area School District announced the hiring of Doug Biega as the district’s new boys’ basketball coach.
Considering the history of the program, going 52-202 over the last 11 years, it won’t be easy, but Biega is up for the challenge. Credit the school board for going out and doing the right thing by hiring the most qualified and best candidate available.
Vikings Sports Now had a chance to talk with the new boss of Hopewell Boys Basketball and first asked him what brought him out of his retirement since 2017.
“An obligation. I’m not doing this for me,” said Coach Biega. “I have an incredibly accomplished career. There’s absolutely and literally nothing for me to prove as far as coaching. However, I have lived in Hopewell for over 20 years. I’ve watched a lot of basketball games. I think we can do better. That is not to disparage any one person in particular. I believe we can do better across the board as a community to make this program competitive.”
“Obviously, because I have a son in the program, I was asked to be involved in coaching here. Since 2018, I have worked with this group that is going to be entering their sophomore year. They are very athletic, very competitive, and I think can be molded into a highly successful basketball team. But my objective is to do more than just have a successful team. I want to give Hopewell a successful program. Bonding the boys in grades 9-12 is a must. Hopewell has a had good players come through the program. Jacob McGovern, Anthony LaSala, Zachary Kovell, these are next level athletes. The cupboards were never very bare here. I just think it was a neglected program.”
Now this it’s official and Biega is in charge; the process of change and improving all levels of Hopewell boys begins immediately. In order to truly build a true program, it can’t be about just on grade level of players, it needs to be a wave of kids in the system and that will be a priority for Biega.
“That starts ASAP,” said Biega. “We have to upgrade our skill. The gyms need to be open more often than they have been in the past six or seven years. I live across the street. I have a wonderful relationship with Mr. Lamenza. If a kid wants to get into the gym and work on his ball handling or shooting, I am a text message away from opening up the doors and getting him the work he desires. I promise, I will never say no.”
“The staff I am bringing in will be a huge part of this turnaround. These are not just accomplished athletes with Division I, and even some professional playing experience, they are highly accomplished professionals as well. Role models for the kids. I always had a bunch of coaches. I have been a schoolteacher for 32 years. When the teacher to student ratio hits a good number, learning takes place more effectively. I look at it the same with coaching. If you have one coach for every four kids that are out on the court, they are all going to be taught at a much higher and more consistent level. I’ve also had 21 parents reach out to be part of the basketball boosters, that’s huge.”
Biega enjoyed tremendous success at Beaver Falls High School and believes that it’s possible to also enjoy winning basketball at Hopewell and it will begin with one thing.
“Relationships. You don’t need to look any further than my staff to see that I have been able to foster long lasting and loyal relationships with the kids I have been lucky enough to coach,” Biega tells Vikings Sports Now. “Everyone on my staff either played for me at some point in their life or against me. I take that as a tremendous honor. Playing for me is not easy. But it is rewarding. There is literally nothing I would not do for one of my players, not just while they play for me, but in their futures. I have coached or taught kids that have ended up being ultra successful in the real world and have thanked me for my small part in their journey. My boss at Beaver Falls Middle School played for me. He was a terrible player. But he was a tremendous kid and an awesome teammate. So, I never lost contact with him and was never not a part of his life. Now he tells me what to do.”
Aside from relationships, Biega was very quick to point about an immediate change that will help improve Hopewell basketball.
“Time. We are going to prepare. We will watch film. I don’t even know if they have a TV to watch film. But we will watch film. Whatever we have to do. Practices will be organized, and they will be frequent. There will not be huge gaps in the calendar where we are not practicing. We will be practicing as much as the WPIAL bylaws allow. The practices will be very physically demanding. But they will also be mentally demanding. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the kids at Hopewell. I think they have been undervalued. They can handle a hard mental and physical workload, and this will serve them better in life. Eventually, unless you plan on working for your dads’ company, life will throw some adversity at you. We are tasked in preparing them for such obstacles.”
When asked about the dynamics and public perception and questioning of coaching his son, Biega responded in this manner.
“I’ll let you know, I’ve never done it at a high level,” said Biega. “But others have. John Miller, Tim McConnell, Ralph Blundo, just to name a few. I don’t think it’s as big a deal as people may think. I understand where people may have a concern because there have been some bad examples of people coaching their children; but that’s usually in youth sports. Higher level coaching usually doesn’t see that. I guess I would point out that I already had a handful of section championships, a WPIAL championship and a PIAA championship before Jack was born,” Biega laughed. I am a coach who had a kid not a dad who needed to coach his kid. I think that is the biggest difference.”
As we wrapped things up, Biega wanted to mention something important about an upcoming event.
“We are doing to have a youth camp June 9-12th. This hiring process took a little longer than anyone would’ve liked so we are behind a little bit. But because of my personality, I was preparing all along. I was not being presumptuous, I was just being prepared. I have my staff, we have all the logistics worked out for a camp. It should take off without a hitch. Stay tuned for more information on that.”
