41 Years Later, Cvijanovich Calls it a Career

Lou Cvijanovich, the legendary boys’ basketball coach at Santa Clara High, has resigned after 41 seasons at the school.

Cvijanovich, who holds the state record with 829 career victories and guided the Saints to 15 Southern Section championships, cited a multitude of reasons for his decision, including health concerns and a difference in philosophy with school administrators and players’ parents.

Cvijanovich, 72, left on a high note, guiding the Saints to the state Division V championship and a 30-3 record this past season. Two Santa Clara players, B.J. Ward and Nick Jones, signed letters of intent with UC Santa Barbara and were Times’ All-Ventura County selections.

The fiery Cvijanovich, who would yell at a player one moment and hug him the next, reflected on his tenure at the Oxnard Catholic school by saying, “It’s been a great, great 41 years. I can’t complain a damn bit about it.”

At the same time, he acknowledged that “things have changed. Before, the school dictated to the parents. Now, the parents dictate to the school.”

Cvijanovich’s relationship with the administration, specifically with Principal Keith Murphy, had been strained, sources said.

“They pushed [Cvijanovich] out the door so much, he just couldn’t take it any more,” said a Santa Clara coach. “It’s his school. It ain’t their school.”

Murphy, in his third year as principal, declined comment.

Another factor in the resignation was the departure of one of Cvijanovich’s sons, Steve, a key assistant the past four years who is leaving Santa Clara to pursue other coaching opportunities.

“I’m glad he did it,” Jones said of Cvijanovich’s resignation. “It was getting to be a drag on his shoulders. He doesn’t need that right now.

“Basketball brings in all the profit for athletics here, but [the administrators] don’t think about it in that sense. They’re stingy, they’re greedy. Soccer and volleyball were getting new uniforms and new equipment and he would ask for something as little as [athletic] tape and [Cvijanovich] wouldn’t get it. It was sad watching him fight for every little penny.”

Cvijanovich, who also led the Saints to state titles in 1989 and 1990, enjoyed coaching success beyond basketball. He guided the Saints to Southern Section football titles in 1963 and 1965 and a baseball title in 1960.

The departure of Cvijanovich, whose name is synonymous with Santa Clara, has fueled speculation that the school may not be able to reverse the problem of declining enrollment. Located in a depressed south Oxnard neighborhood, Santa Clara had an enrollment of more than 800 students in the late 1980s, but the number of students had dipped to 273 by last September.

Cvijanovich did not rule out returning next season in a consulting role with the Santa Clara girls’ basketball team, coached by his daughter, Sherri.

Cvijanovich said he was offered a job on Monday . . . as a delivery-truck driver.

“I think it’d be a lot of fun,” he said. “No parents or anything like that.”

Perhaps Jones, who averaged 26 points during the Saints’ nine-game playoff run, said it best.

“Life without Coach C is going to be like the Bulls without Jordan,” he said. “But it’s what the owner wanted.”