Santa Monica College unlikely to hire a coach until August
By MICHAEL MIDDLEHURST-SCHWARTZ Special to the Daily Press
SMC After losing eight players from last year’s team to four-year schools, the Santa Monica College men’s basketball team expected to be entering a transition year this summer.
What the Corsairs didn’t anticipate was having to replace their coach as well as most of their roster.
Following his first year as head coach at SMC, Jesse Teplitzky has agreed to become the head coach of the team at Cerritos College. In 2008, Teplitzky led the Corsairs to their first winning record in five years.
“I love (SMC) to death, but it was the right move for me,” Teplitzky said. “I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity that the school gave me and will forever remember that season.”
Teplitzky will continue to teach two summer courses at SMC before moving on to Cerritos in August.
The 29-year-old coach will be a full-time staff member at Cerritos, giving him medical coverage and other benefits that he could not receive as a part-time employee at SMC.
“They were able to give me more pay and benefits for essentially the same workload,” Teplitzky said.“It was too good of an offer to pass up.”
Teplitzky made SMC aware that he was pursuing the Cerritos job as he went through the application process, according to assistant coach Joe Cascio.
“He kept everyone in the loop,” said Cascio, who will serve as the team’s interim coach during the summer.
SMC must post their opening to the public before interviewing applicants for the coaching position, a process that could last into mid-August.
Teplitzky met with SMC players after accepting the position at Cerritos and encouraged them to remain with the program. He also extended offers to Cascio and fellow assistant coach Aaron Landon to join him at Cerritos, but neither is expected to leave SMC.
Cascio said that two recruits who had agreed to join the Corsairs in the fall are unlikely to play for SMC following the coaching change.
Ironically, SMC lost to Cerritos in the first round of the Southern California Regional Playoff this spring. After head coach Gary Cain took a different job within the school, a Cerritos staff member encouraged Teplitzky to apply for the opening.
Cain was part of the interview committee that eventually decided to hire Teplitzky.
“Coach Teplitzky seems driven and has goals for himself and his program,” Cain said in a press release.“He sets his standards high and his level of expectation is equally as high. He is aware of the tradition we have set at Cerritos College and he told me he was excited to get started and do his very best to maintain that tradition.”
Among his accomplishments at SMC, Teplitzky said he was most proud of helping six sophomores and two freshmen transfer to four-year colleges to continue their basketball careers.
“I couldn’t have been more proud of what we accomplished,” Teplitzky said. “I definitely made some mistakes along the way, but I can say that none of those mistakes were a result of not working hard enough.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 3, 2008. Read the original PDF.