By Dick Dornan
BurbankNBeyond Sports Editor
Jerry DeLaurie has been named the new boys head basketball coach at Burbank High, the school announced today. DeLaurie met with the players in the program Tuesday afternoon where he was introduced officially by Athletic Director Fred Cook.
“I am very excited right now. We just have a lot of work to do,” DeLaurie said. “When you get hired this late you just have to hit the ground running. We just have to get an identityof who we are and get it going. It’s a new era here at Burbank.”
A physical education teacher at David Starr Jordan Middle School for the last six years, DeLaurie brings a wealth of basketball experience to the Bulldogs program having coached at Blair, Marshall High School of Pasadena, Bakersfield West and most recently at Los Angeles Baptist.
DeLaurie replaces Jose Hernandez who pursued other basketball opportunities and was recently appointed the girls head coach at Corona High School. Burbank finished 16-12 overall and 8-6 in the Pacific League last season. DeLaurie inherits a program that has won at least 16 games each season since 2007.
He hopes to instill discipline and character as he lays the foundation of his new program.
“My focus is just to get the teams ready to go. All three levels,” DeLaurie explained. “I want the players to be disciplined and have good character; what kind of person you are on and off the court, how you carry yourself and how you behave. It’s about being a student athlete and the life long lessons the boys will learn.”
Tryouts will be conducted on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. DeLaurie has high expectations for his program and it all starts tomorrow when his players take the court for the first time under his leadership.
“I told them three things: be ready to compete, be consistent and be accountable,” DeLaurie said. “It’s a new era and we have a new beginning here. My enthusiasm and energy is second to none and I’m pretty focused on that. There is a sense of urgency and I’m ready to get going.”
