Greer Takes Over Troubled Monroe Basketball Program

Wendell Greer Jr. thought he was off the hook, that he had blown his last whistle in a sweaty high school gymnasium. He was mistaken.

When Greer transferred to Monroe High over the summer and was installed as dean of students, his career as a basketball coach seemingly had ended. However, that changed when Monroe Coach David Spirlin resigned from the L. A. Unified School District the week before school started.

Greer, 34, coached for the past three seasons at Hollywood High. He takes over for Spirlin, who was hired last summer but resigned before he coached a game.

“I definitely thought I’d retired from the high school level,” Greer said. “But I agreed to try it again.”

Spirlin left to accept a graduate assistantship in the athletic department at Cal State Dominguez Hills, although he said Friday that the position “didn’t work out.”

Greer, who agreed to coach for one season, takes over a team that was 4-30 the past two seasons under Dennis King.

In 1988-89, Monroe was 3-14 overall and 2-8 in Mid-Valley League play. But Greer, who said he won two league titles in two seasons at Jefferson before moving to Hollywood, sees Monroe as a step up. “You can’t win without talent. We have a good group of kids here,” he said.