New BHS Girls Basketball Coach Ready to Meet Challenge

The varsity girls basketball team has compiled an average record of 18-7 in the past four seasons, including three consecutive WPIAL playoffs appearances, a WPIAL championship game berth and two state playoffs trips. It is a program on the rise, moving in the direction of being a championship team.

The man who will lead the team for the first time during the 2011-12 season is undertaking that task in his first head coaching job, but Gavin Prosser is eager to face the challenge at his alma mater.

"I love everything about Baldwin," Prosser said. "I thought it was a great opportunity, and I know they have a lot of talent there. Being back at Baldwin was something that I've always wanted to do, and as soon as I heard the position was open, I went after it."

A 2003 Baldwin High graduate, Prosser was an all-WPIAL point guard, scored over 1,200 career points as a Highlander and left the school as its second all-time leading male scorer.

After starting his college basketball career at the Community College of Allegheny County and then transferring to Slippery Rock University, Prosser eventually landed at Point Park University, where he averaged 17.9 points and 5.5 assists per game.

He ranks in the top 10 in Point Park men's history in points, assists, steals, 3-pointers made, free throws made and free throws attempted, and was a three-time all-American Mideast Conference selection as well as an NAIA honorable mention All-American.

The NAIA, or National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, is, like the NCAA, a college-sports governing body.

Following college, Prosser was hired by Point Park as an assistant men's basketball coach, a position that he held with the Pioneers for the past two seasons.

"It's something I had considered," Prosser said when asked about his aspirations of becoming a head coach. "I hoped maybe it could happen one day. As soon as I heard the position (at Baldwin) was available, it's something that I really wanted to go after."

Not only is this Prosser's first head coaching job, it is also the first time that he has crossed the gender line to coach young women. But he doesn't think that it will be a difficult transition.

"To me, basketball is basketball," he said. "It's something I've been doing my whole life and something I want my life to be about. I love coaching, I love sharing my knowledge about the game, and I just want to give back as much as I can."

The roster that Prosser inherits at Baldwin lost two seniors from last season in Laura Saussol and Belma Nurkic. Nurkic was a two-time all-state guard who scored 1,794 career points at Baldwin and will play collegiately at Duquesne University this coming fall. But the arrival of a promising freshman class, including some players who won with  over the past two seasons, is something that the Highlanders' new coach is excited about.

"We have a lot of young talent," Prosser said. "We've only been together for two (open-gym sessions) now, so I'm still learning about everybody and what people can bring to our team. But there's a lot of talent there, and it just needs to be brought along."

Needless to say, the 2011-12 season will be a growing and learning process for both the players and the head coach.

"With this being my first head-coaching job, I'm definitely going to have a lot to learn," Prosser said, "and I'm glad Mr. (Vince) Sortino is the athletic director. I think he has a lot to share as far as his experience (goes), and there's a lot of support there with the other coaches. So I'm really looking forward to it."

Another thing that Prosser looks forward to is the eventual growth of support from the Baldwin-Whitehall community if his team were to take the next step and win a championship.

"I think it would be just even more support from the community," he said. "They've been trying to take that next step for the past couple years, and I'm not really sure why that hasn't happened.

"I think the community has always shown a great amount of support, but it's always nice to win."