Monroe Looks to Spirlin for Turnaround : High school basketball: Former coach at Washington is elevated from Viking junior varsity position.

David Spirlin, the new basketball coach at Monroe High, knows he has a big job. The Vikings finished 4-15 last season and placed third in the four-team Mid-Valley League.

But there are those who believe Spirlin can give the program a huge boost.

“The kids like him and they look up to him,” said Greg Vallone, an assistant principal at Monroe. “And not just because they respect him but because he’s 6-foot-5.”

Spirlin, who turned 32 Thursday, spent last season as coach of the junior varsity and served as dean of students. He quickly became known for an aggressive style.

“His nickname is ‘The Terminator,’ ” said Spirlin’s wife, Laura. “He’s a tough coach.”

Spirlin coached the Washington High varsity for three seasons before transferring to Monroe this year. He graduated from Lawndale High in 1976 and played at Columbia Christian College in Portland, Ore.

Spirlin said he earned his nickname while teaching defensive drills at Laker swingman Michael Cooper’s summer basketball camp. “All the kids had to go through me,” he said. “So I had to stop them.”

He left Washington, he said, because administrators were angered when they learned he had applied for a coaching job in another school district. A year off from coaching the varsity made him stir-crazy.

“I really missed being a varsity head coach,” he said. “I always had aspirations of being one again.”

Dennis King, who coached the Vikings the past two seasons, resigned “because he had other commitments,” Vallone said.

King declined comment Thursday.

In another coaching change, Steve Goldstein, the basketball coach at Oak Park the past four years, has resigned to take the coaching position at La Salle in Pasadena.

Oak Park was 8-15 last season under Goldstein, a walk-on coach. Oak Park will take applications for a successor through June 29, according to Athletic Director Fred Yamano.

Staff writer Steve Henson contributed to this story.