Corisis Stuck Around Until He Got Job Done

When George Corisis winds the clock back to 1979, the beginning of his successful tenure as a girls’ basketball coach at Palmdale High, the over-riding memory is of how badly he tried to get out.

“I tried to quit that first season about five times,” he said.

But each time Corisis tried to resign, former Palmdale athletic director Darrell Havens--who is now the principal--told the coach to finish the job.

“At that time, I just didn’t think I could coach girls,” Corisis said. “They cried and had a tendency to take everything personal.

“It took a while to make them understand it’s not personal, you’re just trying to make them better.”

The following season, Corisis was promoted from the junior varsity to the varsity. In the 15 years since, he has won more than 300 games.

After leading the Falcons to a 29-4 record, and their first Southern Section championship game and a semifinal berth in the Southern California Regional tournament, Corisis is The Times’ Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Corisis said he has continued to coach girls because he likes their feedback.

“Boys expect everything you do for them,” he said. “The girls say thank you.”

Corisis said the competitive nature of his players has changed in 15 years.

“The girls are self-motivated, and they have the dream of playing college ball now--like the boys,” he said. “They don’t play socially anymore.”

The Falcons, ranked No. 2 in the region by The Times for most of the season, enjoyed a 16-game winning streak and captured their second consecutive Golden League championship. Unseeded in the Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs, Palmdale posted easy victories over Lakewood, Temecula Valley and Fountain Valley, then upset second-seeded Simi Valley, 61-60, in a semifinal.

Palmdale lost a heartbreaker to Peninsula, 36-34, in the final.

“This team was a family, a true team on and off the court,” Corisis said. “Everybody was unselfish, and nobody cared who scored the points and got the glory.”

But after losing the section title, the coach who once wanted to quit says he still has unfinished business.

“We want to go back and win that CIF championship game,” he said.