Nash Rivera Is Hired at Santa Ana : Former El Dorado Basketball Coach Comes Highly Recommended

Nash Rivera, one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Orange County in the 1970s, was named Tuesday to replace Greg Coombs as Santa Ana High School’s boys’ basketball coach.

Rivera, 54, compiled a 206-145 record in 14 seasons at El Dorado before resigning in 1980. He won consecutive Southern Section 2-A titles in 1974 and 1975, producing such star players as Kevin Heenan, Tyrone Branyan, Jim DeWeese, Rory Lovell and Blake Withers.

“I just wanted to get back to the high school level,” Rivera said. “I feel rejuvenated and reborn. It will be a privilege to coach on this level again.”

El Dorado won five Orange League titles and made the playoffs nine times under Rivera. He later turned around the school’s girls’ basketball program, winning the Empire League title in 1983 before resigning in 1984 to join Billie Moore’s staff at UCLA, where he coached through this season.

“We just jumped at the chance to get him,” said Bill Ross, Santa Ana’s newly appointed athletic director. “His teams were always very intense and very well coached.”

Rivera will inherit an experienced and talented team that returns four starters and eight of the top 10 players from a team that finished 19-8 this season under Coombs.

Santa Ana is expected to open as one of the top 10 teams in the county next year with returning starters Chauncy Woolridge and Oscar Wilson ranked among the best players in the county.

Rivera came highly recommended by several prominent basketball coaches, including former UCLA Coach John Wooden.

“A handwritten letter from John Wooden was enough to convince me,” Ross said.

Others who supported Rivera included Southern Section administrative assistant Bill Clark, who was Rivera’s athletic director at El Dorado.

“Nash is the epitome of a high school basketball coach,” Clark said. “Give him a gymnasium and some kids to coach, and he’s happy. He can motivate kids like no one I’ve ever seen in high school sports.”

Coombs, who won 153 games in eight years at Santa Ana, resigned in March to assume the varsity basketball job at Century High, also located in Santa Ana. Century is scheduled to open in the fall with 1,000 freshmen and sophomores.