DeBusk Leaves Newport Harbor to Become an Assistant at OCC

Jerry DeBusk, the Times’ Orange County prep basketball Coach of the Year for 1984-85, has resigned as the coach at Newport Harbor High School to accept an assistant coaching position at Orange Coast College.

DeBusk will assist Tandy Gillis as the men’s basketball coach at Orange Coast. He will be replaced on a one-year, interim basis by Costa Mesa Coach Tim Parsel, a former DeBusk assistant and a Newport Harbor graduate. Parsel, a 1967 graduate of Newport Harbor who coached under DeBusk for five years, served as the Costa Mesa Coach for the past six years.

The moves have been in the planning stages for the past two weeks, Parsel said, but gained approval of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District only Thursday. DeBusk, who guided the Sailors to a 24-4 overall record--best in the school’s history--and the Sea View League championship last season, said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with Gillis.

“Over the past 15 years of coaching, there have been a couple of times when I could have done something similar to this, but I didn’t do it,” he said. DeBusk will maintain his teaching position at Newport Harbor. He is leaving the coaching post with the understanding that he can return after one year. His return, he said, is dependent upon whether he gets a more attractive coaching offer after assisting Gillis next season.

Parsel said that declining enrollment has made it difficult for Costa Mesa to compete in the Sea View League, and that he would serve as DeBusk’s assistant should DeBusk return to Newport Harbor after next year. He added that he expects the district to open his former post at Costa Mesa to all applicants.