Banning Hires Paez as Basketball Coach

Three months after he resigned as a coach and teacher with the Los Angeles Unified School District, former Cleveland High basketball Coach Marc Paez is back doing both--at Banning High.

Paez, 30, who left Cleveland in June after guiding the Cavaliers to a 21-6 record and into the City Section 4-A Division semifinals in his only season as coach, was hired last week.

Paez, who cited external distractions and the pressure to win at the Reseda school as a prime reason for resigning, said he does not expect to encounter similar problems at Banning.

“Obviously, time will tell, but I suspect that it’ll be closer to what I hope to find at the high school level,” said Paez, a former assistant coach at St. Bernard. “I anticipate less off-the-court distractions. It should be closer to what I think high school basketball is all about.”

Paez replaces Gary Cain, who coached the Pilots for four seasons. A Banning administrator said Cain was forced to resign by the district in order to devote more time to his job as a counselor in the dropout prevention program.

Paez said he had turned down several offers--including professional coaching positions in Ireland and Turkey--before Banning Principal Augie Herrera called him last month.

Banning contacted him at the recommendation of City Section Commissioner Hal Harkness. Herrera had contacted Harkness to discuss possible candidates for the position.

“From what I know about him and from the endorsements from (Cleveland Principal Ida Mae Windham), I thought that if somebody of his caliber and character was available, we should try to keep him around,” Harkness said.

Paez said he welcomes the job of building a program that has struggled. Banning, a perennial City power in football, has fielded .500 basketball teams in recent years. The Pilots were 11-13 last season.