Pius X Coach, Aglow From UNLV Victory, Aims for a CIF Title

In his haste to get to the Long Beach Arena Monday night, Rob Orellana walked into a glass door at a nearby hotel. With a bruised nose--and slightly red face--Orellana watched Nevada Las Vegas, the basketball team that has meant so much to him.

“I was like a kid in a candy shop seeing those guys,” Orellana said Wednesday, a bit embarrassed by his mishap but still savoring UNLV’s 122-75 victory over Cal State Long Beach.

Orellana was the Rebels’ team manager last year when they won the NCAA title. Now he is the head coach at Pius X High School in Downey.

A short, enthusiastic man so young looking at 25 that he could pass for the Pius X student he once was, Orellana is trying to lead the Warriors to their first CIF title. They play at Murphy High of Los Angeles in a CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA quarterfinal game Friday night.

For three years, Orellana was part of the glamour that surrounds UNLV, traveling to the country’s glitziest arenas.

“Seeing such places as Madison Square Garden and the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge was an unbelievable experience,” he said.

He found himself in famous places and around famous players. “I was just the team manager, and Larry Johnson treated me like I was the head coach,” Orellana said, referring to the Rebel All-American. “It would be very easy for him and Stacey Augmon to shine me off because they’re going to be multimillionaires. But they made me feel at home.”

At Pius X, Orellana played guard under Mike Murphy. “He was my sixth man and a student of the game,” said Murphy, who resigned last year as coach but is still athletic director.

After graduating in 1983, Orellana worked as Murphy’s assistant for two years while attending Loyola Marymount University. He then was an assistant coach for two years at Westchester High in Los Angeles before enrolling at UNLV.

“They said they needed a team manager and offered me a job,” said Orellana, who had known the Rebels’ basketball staff from attending summer camps at UNLV. “I jumped at it. It was a great opportunity to sit and just watch Coach (Jerry) Tarkanian and his assistants in action.”

He didn’t even have to keep track of the towels, delegating that chore to the student managers. He handled paperwork and kept things in order for the coaches, while filing in his mind everything he could learn from them about strategy.

“Rob was a very good teacher for a young guy, and the players loved him,” said Tim Grgurich, a Las Vegas assistant coach. “He communicates well with young guys. He can discipline them, but still put an arm around them. He understands city kids really well.”

Orellana’s three-year career as manager concluded last April when UNLV beat Duke in Denver in the NCAA championship game. Although the Las Vegas staff encouraged him to apply for college assistant jobs, Orellana did not hesitate when Murphy called and asked him to be his successor.

“This is where my roots are,” Orellana said. “This is a gold mine to me. It’s a great setting for a kid, a traditional high school with very high academic standards. And there are still sock hops on Friday nights. I still look at the teachers like they were still my teachers. I will call them Mr. Ball or Miss Gibbons and they’re constantly saying, ‘Call me Doug’ or ‘Call me Donna Marie.’ ”

The new coach inherited a young team that was 3-19 last season. Using the pressing, up-tempo style he learned in Las Vegas, the Warriors have improved to 16-7.

“We work their butts off,” he said. “We constantly harass them in practice and they respond real well. We try to demand a lot and that’s because of what I’ve seen. The demands coaches at Las Vegas put on players is unbelievable.”

The Warriors are led by 6-3 sophomore Michael O’Quinn, the most valuable player of the Camino Real League, who is averaging 23.5 points a game. The point guard is 5-11 junior Ryan Brass, the other starters are 6-4 sophomore Jacobi Thompson, 6-4 junior Joe Johnson and 6-5 junior Troy Antee.

Orellana’s biggest moment came when the Warriors beat St. Monica, 59-52, for the league title. “I was more excited that I was at McNichols Arena (in Denver) when I received my championship ring,” he said.

He does not miss the big arenas, and is just as happy in the small Pius X gym, which was jammed last Friday night with 1,200 fans who watched the Warriors beat Beaumont in the opening playoff game.

“I’m a hoop nut,” he said. “If a game is played on an asphalt court or at the Thomas and Mack Center (in Las Vegas), it’s the same. just as long as it’s basketball. I love our gym. The floor is rubber, the baskets are almost coming down, but it’s home. And I like the camaraderie among the kids, coaches and faculty.”

Orellana does allow that his players are getting a little tired of hearing him talk about the Rebels all the time, but that’s never going to change.

“They’re family to me,” he said.

In addition to Pius X, 10 other area teams have reached the quarterfinals of the playoffs, and will play Friday night.

In Division I-AA, Jordan (20-6) will play Nogales (21-6) at Millikan High. The Panthers beat Schurr, 76-58, Tuesday night. Lynwood (5-21), which edged Poly, 81-77, will play Eisenhower (19-8) at Redlands High. Lakewood (15-12), a 94-80 winner over Redlands, will play Hawthorne (14-11) at Long Beach Wilson High, and Millikan (22-4) will play Alhambra (22-3) at long Beach City College. The Rams advanced by beating Chino, 86-42.

In II-AA, Gahr (24-4) will play Glendora (24-4) at Cal Poly Pomona. The Gladiators defeated Canyon, 77-75, Tuesday night. Dominguez (17-8), which beat Sunny Hills, 60-52, will play Muir (21-4) at Long Beach Jordan High.

In II-A, Artesia (22-2) meets Redondo (15-12) at Gahr. The Pioneers beat Los Altos, 69-33.

In III-AA, Centennial (19-9), a 78-56 winner over Lompoc, will play Pomona (18-6) at Dominguez High School

In IV-AA, Whittier Christian (14-11) will play Santa Clara (22-4) at Whittier College.

And in IV-A, Valley Christian (19-5) meets Big Bear (16-7) at Apple Valley High.