Edison High girls’ basketball coach Dan Wiley, 61, dies; service Sunday on campus

Edison High School girls basketball coach Dan Wiley died Monday at his home of unknown causes, Edison athletic director Rich Boyce said Wednesday. Wiley was 61.

“We’re all pretty devastated here,” Boyce said. “He was a tremendous basketball coach and beyond that, a better person.”

Boyce, who as head coach of the boys basketball program shared the Edison gym with Wiley, said Wiley was found unresponsive at his home.

“He was just great for the girls, like a second father to them,” Boyce said. “He also coached club, and what I heard from them was what a great man he was. He was just the kind of person you wanted your kids to play for. It went beyond the court, too. He was full of life.”

Wiley was on the brink of starting his eighth season at Edison. In his third season (2010-11), his Chargers reached the pinnacle by winning the CIF Southern Section Division 1A championship. The division’s top-ranked team did so by scoring the winning basket just before the final buzzer to topple second-ranked Troy, 45-44, in a scintillating final at Anaheim Arena.

It was only the second CIF championship in the history of Edison girls’ basketball program.

Wiley’s final Edison team finished runner-up in the Sunset League and reached the second round of the CIF-SS Division 1A playoffs last year.

The 2015-16 team gathered for team pictures on Sunday.

“They are struggling,” Boyce said of the players. “To say they loved him is an understatement. They found out in the middle of classes Tuesday, and we had grief counselors on hand to help through this tough time.

“Their pain will eventually subside, but their memories of him won’t.”

A moment of silence was held in Wiley’s honor before Tuesday’s Sunset League girls volleyball game between Edison and Huntington Beach, Boyce said. He said a moment of silence is “probable” for Friday’s Bell Game football showdown between Edison and Fountain Valley at Orange Coast College.

A celebration of life service for Wiley will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Edison High gymnasium, Boyce said Thursday.

The service is open to the public.