Hawthorne Basketball Coach Quits : Preps: Ron Randle, who previously coached at Morningside, cites business and family obligations as reasons for resignation.

Ron Randle, who guided the Hawthorne High boys’ basketball team to a 5-17 record last season, has resigned as coach.

Randle, 36, said he was leaving because of business interests and to spend more time with his family.

“We’re expecting a little one in September and I think I should spend more time on family matters,” he said. “Being a basketball coach means putting in 10 to 12 hours a day and there not much financial restitution for it.”

Randle, a walk-on coach at Hawthorne, also said he has been spending a lot of time establishing his moving and storage and roofing businesses.

“I’ve got good people working with me,” he said. “But if you want to be a success at it, you need to put in the time, and that’s the same thing with coaching basketball.”

Randle previously coached at Morningside for eight seasons. His best season was 1990-91, when he guided the Morningside girls to the Southern Section I-AA Division title and second place in State Division I.

With several players returning next season, including guard Ray Outler, Randle said Hawthorne should be much improved.

“They can be much more competitive based on the athletes they have returning in the program next season,” he said. “But I didn’t want to cheat the kids. They need somebody who’s going to be there for 10 to 12 hours a day and at this point I just don’t have that time.”

Randle, who did not rule out returning to coaching in the future, plans to coach a team in a women’s summer basketball league at USC this summer.