Boys’ basketball: Harvey Kitani steps down at Fairfax, will be replaced by Steve Baik

It was a bombshell announcement in Southern California high school basketball on Friday.

Harvey Kitani, the head coach at Fairfax for 35 years, said he has decided to retire from teaching and will leave the Los Angeles Unified School District to become head coach at Rolling Hills Prep, where his two sons attended.

And to help the Lions maintain their spot among the best in the City Section, Kitani and Fairfax Principal Carmina Nacorda have recruited Steve Baik, the former coach at Chino Hills, to replace him.

“We’re so happy the national coach of the year will be coming in to keep the tradition going,” Kitani said.

Kitani showed up at Fairfax in 1981. The Lions won three City Section Division I championships and four overall, along with two state titles while sending numerous players onto the college ranks.

“I still feel like I can coach another 10 years,” he said, “but if you’re not teaching, how can you do it?”

He will become the head coach and assistant athletic director at Rolling Hills, which is closer to his home in the South Bay.

Fairfax football Coach Shane Cox called Kitani the “Coach Krzyzewski of Los Angeles City basketball.”

“Beyond all of his accolades, he was a builder of men,” Cox said. “I can’t imagine any other coach doing more for his players. From the minute they arrived at Fairfax to the minute they left, he was building character. He will be deeply missed.”

Baik shocked everyone when he resigned earlier this year at Chino Hills after guiding the Huskies to a 35-0 record. He said he was looking to move closer to his home in Altadena. Kitani said his assistants would be staying to help Baik, with Jamal Hartwell Sr. becoming associate head coach. Hartwell’s son is a top guard for the Lions.

Now Baik will be welcoming Chino Hills to the Fairfax summer tournament at the end of June. And the Fairfax State Preview Classic next January at Cerritos College will be run by Kitani at Rolling Hills Prep and include Fairfax and Chino Hills.

Westchester Coach Ed Azzam, who has been a longtime friend and competitor of Kitani, said he was excited for him.

Azzam just completed his 38th season and became the City Section’s all-time winningest coach. He said he plans to return for a 39th season.

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