Published: June 10, 2009 12:11 am      

Roman Jr. to coach Westmont basketball again

JOHNSTOWN — Less than three weeks after he resigned as Greater Johnstown High School’s boys basketball coach, Dave Roman Jr. is back in the game with his former team.

The Westmont Hilltop School Board unanimously approved Roman’s hiring as boys basketball coach during a Monday meeting.

“Dave is a proven quantity at Westmont. He had 10 great years,” Westmont School Board President Mitch Azar said Tuesday night. “Our goal is to find the best basketball coach available. Dave is at the top of the list. We were sorry to see him go last year. We are glad to have him back. His basketball knowledge and his interaction with the kids was a good situation all around.”

Roman led Johnstown to an 18-7 record and a District 6 Class AAA championship in his only season with the Trojans.

Previously he had 201 career wins and four District 6 titles in 10 seasons coaching the Westmont boys team. He left Westmont after the 2007-08 season to accept the Johnstown job.

Roman could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night.

Last month, he cited family commitments and his accepting a new job as reasons for leaving Johnstown after only one season.

“It was in the best interest of my family. It was a job opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Roman said during a May 28 interview. “Johnstown gave me a great opportunity. It was a great experience coaching down there. I had a great group of kids. I’ll miss them. They accepted me and bought into what we were trying to teach them. We had a real successful season. The opportunity for this job came up and I couldn’t turn it down.”

At that time, Roman said he hadn’t ruled out coaching again and acknowledged that there were rumors he was headed back to Westmont.