ADAMS TWP — Nobody can say Mars varsity boys basketball coach Rob Carmody doesn't pay attention.

He listened to people who coached him. He's listened to people he's coached with. He's parlayed advice into the lifestyle he and his family enjoy today.

Carmody has been the Planets' hoop coach since 1998. It has been his first and only head coaching job.

“I haven't even looked at another coaching position, let alone interviewed for one,” Carmody said.He took over a Mars program that hadn't been to the WPIAL playoffs in more than a decade. The Planets own current streaks of 13 consecutive district playoff appearances, nine straight PIAA playoff appearances and eight consecutive section championships.Carmody played for and coached with Don Graham, the North Catholic legend who compiled 801 career wins with the Trojans.Carmody recently picked up his 350th career win at Mars. He was an assistant coach under Graham when Carmody was offered the Mars job.“When I told Coach Graham I was thinking about going over to Mars, he asked me if I felt like I could build a successful program there,” Carmody recalled. “He emphasized that once I did, don't just jump to another school.“Build something you want to remain a part of. I took that to heart.”Playing his college basketball at Westminster, Carmody was mentored by legendary Titan basketball coach Ron Galbreath, who died a few years ago.“Coach Galbreath lived a bike ride away from the Westminster gym,” Carmody said. “He was a part of that community. That's what I wanted to become at Mars.“My wife and I decided to move here. We didn't have any kids when I started coaching here. Now I've had two sons who were a big part of the program.”Paul Rubish has been an assistant coach with Carmody for 21 years. Scott Pfeiffer — who played on the last Mars team to reach the playoffs (1987) before Carmody's arrival — has been coaching in the program for a number of years as well.Kent Bloom has “been filming games, filling up water bottles, doing whatever needs done for us for forever,” Carmody said. “A strong program needs people like him.“Coach Graham was a legend and he'd be out there sweeping the floor before every game. You just take ownership of it.”Bill Cress, a 1970 Mars graduate, has been a freshman coach with the Planets for years.Pfeiffer said he still remembers the banner being put up in the gym commemorating the 1987 playoff team.“Now there's banners all over those walls,” Pfeiffer said. “Little kids come into the gym and see that stuff. We've got good competition at the junior high level, so many kids in the youth program.“The program feeds itself now. That's where the consistency comes from. It's taken a while to get to that point and Rob's had the patience to get it done.”During the current run of eight section titles, the Planets are 95-9 in section play, 173-49 overall. The team won WPIAL championships in 2018 and 2019. The Planets lost the district title game by a single point last year.Mars' youth basketball program has 130 to 140 kids in grades 3-6 this year.“Even with the COVID situation and some places shut down, our youth coaches find gyms and find time to work it out, to keep these kids on the floor playing,” Carmody said.“My sons didn't look up to LeBron James or other NBA guys when they were younger, they wanted to be the next Tim Frye or Steve Cress or Sean Gallagher ... Andrew Recchia hit a buzzer-beater to win a WPIAL title for us. Kids shoot around in their driveways around here wanting to be him. I love that. That's what we've developed here.”The Mars boys basketball team has competed in holiday tournaments in Las Vegas and Florida. The Planets have played in two state championship games in the past five years.“It's at the point where no senior class wants to be the team that ends the playoff streak or the section title run ... everyone is always willing to buy in,” Pfeiffer said.“It's become a source of pride here.”Carmody agreed.“We'll call a practice for 6:30 a.m., before school, and we'll have 30 kids in the gym,” Carmody said. “That's how on-board these guys are.”The most wins among active high school basketball coaches in the country is 1,138. Steve Smith of Oak Hills Academy in Virginia owns that mark, which stands third all-time.According to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the national record for high school basketball coaching wins is 1,333, set by Robert Hughes, who retired in 2005.Carmody appreciates such dedication and commitment.“You coach and you win for so many years ... you can get bored,” he said. “I was at North Catholic when Don Barth (788 wins) was coaching the girls team. Don Graham, Tim McConnell (Chartiers Valley), Joe Lafko at Hampton, I admire those guys.“When kids keep coming up, so intense, so excited, working to keep getting better, you want to keep working to get better with them.“I'm a long way from getting bored,” Carmody added.

Carmody