Penns Valley boys’ basketball makes its first new coaching hire in nearly 2 decades
Penns Valley has hired its first boys’ basketball coach in 18 years. The Rams announced Rob Irwin as their new coach Friday morning.
Irwin has been an assistant for the school’s two most prolific basketball coaches in former girls’ basketball coach Karen McCaffrey and his predecessor as the boys’ basketball coach, Terry Glunt.
He assisted McCaffrey for six years from 2014-19, until she retired and Irwin moved over to boys’ basketball to assist Glunt, who announced his retirement from coaching basketball on June 2.
Irwin has been a teacher at Penns Valley since 2014 and has helped the Rams’ football team as an assistant under Martin Tobias over the past six years, including the 2019 season when the program took home its first Mountain League title in school history.
While this is Irwin’s first tenure as a head varsity coach, he was in charge of the junior varsity programs under both Glunt and McCaffrey.
Penns Valley Athletic Director Nate Althouse said Irwin’s performance in his role as an assistant under Glunt and McCaffrey played a role in the hire.
“We are impressed with the growth he has shown as an educator and as a coach,” Althosue said in a statement. “He has great rapport with students, he works his tail off doing all the little things that make programs successful, and he has a tremendous support system that will help him grow. We’re happy for Rob and looking forward to a long tenure at the helm of Penns Valley basketball.”
Penns Valley is one of four local boys’ basketball programs that will have a new head coach heading into the 2020-21 season. The Rams join Bald Eagle Area, which hired Kris Glunt, and Philipsburg-Osceola, which hired T.J. Anderson, as the three programs who have made their hires. Bellefonte still has a vacancy after Kris Glunt left to join the Eagles.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 1:58 PM.
