Podbielski

MONACA — Andy Podbielski knew he always wanted to be a high school basketball coach.

Like father, like son, after all.

But when his father — Seneca Valley boys basketball coach Dave Podbielski — died of a heart attack at age 48, “it accelerated that desire,” Podbielski said.

The 2000 SV graduate and Raiders' all-time scoring leader with 1,297 points is in his seventh year as head boys hoop coach at Beaver Area High School.

“I played basketball for two years at Westminster (College) and was going to try breaking into coaching after my college career,” Podbielski said. “After Dad died, I wanted to get started sooner.

“I took a job coaching the freshman boys at Mohawk when I was 20. I've been coaching ever since.”

Before landing at Beaver, Podbielski coached for a year at Center High School under longtime coach Mark Jula. He spent six years as a varsity assistant at Blackhawk and was on the staff when the Cougars claimed the WPIAL championship in 2008.

When he took over at Beaver for his first and only head coaching job, Podbielski promptly led the Bobcats to back-to-back WPIAL Class AAA semifinal appearances, going 19-8 in 2011-12 and 20-5 in 2012-13.

“That worked out pretty well,” he said. “Back-to-back trips to the semifinals had never happened here before.”

The program has not returned to the WPIAL playoffs since. The Bobcats are off to a 2-5 start this season and are trying to avoid a fifth straight losing season.

While Podbielski, 35, isn't crazy about that notion, he realizes the situation he's in.

And he's patient.

“We've got a pretty young team, a lot of first-time starters,” he said. “We graduated a 1,900-point scorer in Darius Wise who's now a wide receiver at Colorado State in football. We have a three-year starter back in Tyler Wallace, but he's been unable to play due to injury.”

A social studies teacher for 13 years at nearby Riverside High School, Podbielski makes the 20-minute drive to Beaver every day — and has no problem doing so.

“It's become pretty much routine. I leave Riverside at 2:40 p.m. every day and we start practice at Beaver at 3:05.

“Coaching high school ball is where I want to stay. I love working with and teaching kids at this level the game I grew up with and love so much.”

When Podbielski produced his school-record point total at Seneca Valley, he did so for his father while playing for him.

“I cherish that time with him. I've cherished it even more since we lost him,” Podbielski said. “Those were the best times of my life.

“He and I shared basketball. That was one of our bonds. I love the fact I'm doing what he did.”

He's just not doing it the same way.

“I can't coach the way my father coached. I'm not him,” Podbielski said. “I have to be myself and coach that way.

“I'm just grateful I've had the opportunity to do that.”