By Lynn Saternow
Herald Sports Editor
ROB SPON HAS come a long way since his volunteer basketball coaching days at Our Lady of Fatima School in Farrell. In fact he’s now going a long way — to New England.
On Monday, the much-traveled hoop mentor takes over as head coach of the Manchester (N.H.) Millrats, about 40 minutes from Boston.
“I’m excited about it,” said Spon in a phone conversation Friday morning.
Spon has been involved in coaching for 24 years, working in high school programs locally at various times in Sharon, Greenville, West Middlesex, Hickory and more. He worked with professional teams in North Dakota, Canada, Pittsburgh and Indiana.
Most recently he was head coach of the Gary (Ind.) Steelheads which posted an 18-4 record.
“That was nice, but Gary was a spring league, February to June,” said Spon. “This job is all-year round. I want to be there and be part of the community to be successful. I’ll do some sales, besides coaching, and there are a lot of incentives.
“We have a great general manager and the owner is a billionaire. It’s hard to find owners like him, he wants to win.”
The team plays in the Premier Basketball League, which has 18 teams. The team is in its second season.
He already has recruited former St. John’s University star Eric Barkley, who is coming back to the country to play after a stint in a pro league in Poland.
He is now considering an assistant coach and one of the candidates is a familiar name to all of us in Mercer County — former Farrell High great Gravelle Craig. Craig is associate head coach at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida.
Spon, who also does part-time scouting for the Cleveland Cavaliers, is gearing up for an “exposure camp” in late September. He’ll be evaluating several players.
The league starts in December and the Philippine National team will be coming in for a warm-up game. Last year, the Millrats went to China and played a team from Singapore.
Spon has been invited to coach for a upcoming camp for the Toronto Raptors in Toronto.
For next summer, Spon is planning to put on a clinic at the Buhl Community Recreation Center (former Buhl Club) in Sharon. One of the guest players may be Jamiro Moon of the Raptors, who formerly played for Spon in the minor pro leagues. Moon made a strong showing in the NBA dunk contest this past year and will compete again next season.
Spon has made a lot of inroads in professional coach in the last few years and someday we could even see him on the sidelines at an NBA game. He’s certainly paid his dues.
ä Speaking of traveling a long way, Our Gang’s Lounge softball team will be competing in the National ASA Open Modified Pitch Championships in Georgia over the Labor Day weekend.
Our Gang’s earned the spot at nationals by winning the state championship last month in Erie.
The team is currently playing Mercer Bowl in a best-of-five series for the Shenango Valley Modified League title with the next game set for 6 p.m. Sunday at Patagonia Senior Division field. Ironically, Our Gang’s must face pitcher Jim Kopan of Mercer Bowl, who will be toeing the rubber for the state champs at nationals as he did in Erie.
Anyone who would like to contribute to help Our Gang’s players defray the expenses of the trip may make out checks to Our Gang’s Softball Association and mail to PO Box 1424, Hermitage, Pa. 16148, or for info call 724-813-1380.
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