Newly appointed Southern Lehigh boys basketball coach Ben Tannous met his new team on Tuesday night. He also met a few members of the media before he met his new team,
Tannous is a 29-year-old Bethlehem Catholic and Elizabethtown College graduate. In the last three years, he has been the head coach at Brandywine Heights in Berks County, and posted a record of 34-35.
Brandywine is primarily a wrestling school, and thus, boys basketball coach is not a coveted position there.
But Southern Lehigh, because of the program that Bob Shaffer established and because the school features many quality, coachable kids, was considered a coveted job. And 28 applicants for Shaffer's old job shows just how coveted it was.
We heard a lot of solid names at least expressed interest, but AD Kate Miller said Monday night that head coaching experience was key and Tannous had it.
Still, the final decision was a surprise to him.
"This was a great surprise because there were so many good people going for the job," he said. "I was excited to hear I was picked."
Not that Brandywine is an all-day trip away, but Tannous, who lives in Bethlehem, said he wanted to coach in the Lehigh Valley.
"This was a program I thought about and was excited when an opportunity came up," he said. "Coach Shaffer did a great job and built a tradition here. These kids have a toughness that Coach Shaffer instilled. This is a deep team with some size. We scrimmaged them before districts last year so I saw what they were all about. There's a bright future here."
As for his three seasons at Brandywine, he said: "It was tough just getting some interest started there. That won't be a problem here. What I've learned over the past three years is how to set up a quality practice, how to manage a game, and how to get the best out of the players that I have."
Tannous said he learned a lot from his past coaches.
"I played for Coach [Jim] Hutnik at Becahi and he has a great offensive mind with a very deliberate attack," Tannous said. "I still use some of his plays today. And Coach [Bob] Schlosser at E-town really showed me how to run a program from Day 1 to the very end of the season. I am going to take from both of them."
Tannous said he leans more toward the up-tempo style that Schlosser used, however.
His coaching staff is not yet fully assembled, but one definite member is Dan Tannous, Ben's father, who will be his head assistant.
Dan has been coaching for years, and was most recently an assistant coach for Mary Beth Spirk with the Moravian College women's program.
Dan, who is now 58, was once the head coach at Dieruff, going 29-69 in four seasons between 1992-06.
"I had Tommy Stoudt, the son, as a player and thank God I did because he was very good," Tannous said. "And then later, I had Travis Stoudt, Tommy's brother. in class. And, of course, since I am still a teacher at Dieruff, I work with Tom Stoudt, their father [now an analyst on RCN coverage]."
Dan said that this will be his last year as a teacher at Dieruff, ending a 35-year teaching career.
Dan's brother, Pat, was also a head coach and his nephews Nate and Derek both recently played at Emmaus.
So, the Tannous family can be quite proud all the way around. But Dan is most proud to be able to help his son get started at Southern Lehigh.
"I am so proud of him it's unbelievable," Dan said. "The Lehigh Valley has been so good to the Tannous family in general. I feel so blessed to be a part of basketball in the Lehigh Valley. I am especially blessed that my son has asked his old man to help him with his new team."
I asked Dan what he has instilled in Ben.
"To be himself," he said. "Once we were done with parenting, I just told him to be himself. He was brought up properly and again, he was lucky enough to be with some great coaches in the Lehigh Valley and he was able to beg, borrow and steal stuff from each one of them."
Dan Tannous mentioned that Ben began his high school career at Freedom under current Northampton Community College men's coach Kevin Foley.
"Kevin is a great guy, a great coach and another great influence on Ben," Dan said. "I also worked with Bob Schlosser when he was at Central and I have to say that Bob not only had a great influence on Ben, but also on me. So, we have a lot of people to thank."
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