by Melissa Dilley

Correspondent

Streetsboro head boys basketball coach Todd Muckleroy keeps a calendar that goes as far as 2013, but practices and games aren’t the only dates written in.

Underneath times the gym will be open for practice are after-school activities and appointments for his three children.

Muckleroy’s assistant coach and players consider him the ultimate family man, both on and off the court.

Each day before practice, Muckleroy waits outside of the high school for his son Zane, 5, to be dropped off from preschool.

Zane acts as waterboy for the team, and his wife Marci and two daughters, Abby, 4, and Cecilia, 18 months, never miss a game from behind the bench to see their two favorite boys.

Muckleroy translates his passion for his family into basketball by ensuring his team holds the same values.

“Family is the most important thing,” Muckleroy said. “We don’t like each other all the time, but we’re very close and I want them to be thankful not just for our basketball family but after the game to really make sure my [players] are grateful for their families at home that support them.”

Before Muckleroy became head coach five years ago, his assistant Nick Marcini, who was then the junior varsity assistant, said the team was in shambles.

Marcini said Muckleroy taking over the team was the best thing that could have happened, especially since Marcini considers Muckleroy one of the greatest people he’s ever known.

“He’s fixed it from as far as the Xs and Os a lot, but turning it into a family atmosphere coming in was the best thing he did,” Marcini said.

Muckleroy said he had always wanted to be head coach of a team that needed some help to grow — and he wanted it to happen by the time he was 30. His wish came true in 2005 when he was promoted from assistant, just one month before his 31st birthday.

The night of his first game as head coach was an emotional one as his parents and wife looked on. But while it’s one of his most memorable moments, another one he says he thinks about quite often is last year’s regional semifinal game against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Former Streetsboro standout Robert Wilson, who played for “Coach Muck” his entire high school career, now plays basketball at Urbana College. 

Wilson said the team not only wanted to win the regional title for themselves, but for its coach, too.

“Winning districts is something we all wanted to do together and as a basketball family ... we wanted to do it for Coach Muck because we started with him and we had never made it that far before,” Wilson said. “We just wanted to pay that back to him for all the hard work he’s put in for us and bring him a championship.”

After the regional game, Muckleroy said good-bye to all of his starters, who had been on his first team as freshmen. Muckleroy said that while he keeps in touch with former players, he has focused on building a new family with the players who he hopes will leave their own legacy and not get caught up in last year’s success.

“In the past four years and for this season, I will admit that I have had some very special players that have made this program what it is today,” Muckleroy said. “One message that I always convey to my players is that there are many things that you cannot control in your quest for excellence. However, the two things that you can control are your effort and attitude. If one can maintain a positive attitude and maximize their effort, then they have reached a level of satisfaction even if a loss is seen on the scoreboard.”

Although Muckleroy doesn’t believe in using the term “rebuilding” this season, 2008 graduate John Weingart said that when he was a sophomore at Streetsboro High School during Muckleroy’s first year as coach, he remembers how Muckleroy explained building a team: He described it as building a house that starts with a strong foundation and the players were the family inside.

Weingart said the recent Portage Trail Conference County Division titles are a testament to Muckleroy’s strategies, that if the team stays on track long enough, they will succeed.

“Most high school coaches just coach basketball, but as a coach, he stressed for our team to be a family and he teaches about basketball, but he always throws life lessons into coaching,” Weingart said.

Thanks to Muckleroy’s influence, Weingart is now a sophomore education major at Kent State University. He said his coach was an inspiration and the reason he has chosen to follow the same career path as Muckleroy.

Weingart isn’t the only player Muckleroy has influenced outside of basketball. Wilson said he remembers his former coach as someone players could look to for guidance or help. Wilson said Muckleroy was always concerned with the well-being of his players and ensured they stayed out of trouble and that they did well in school.

Wilson said he recalls times when players would need rides after practice. Muckleroy would load them up in the car with his own kids.

“In a way, he treats us as we’re his own kids as well,” Wilson said. “He’s a father figure to us as well, but in a basketball sort of way.”

E-mail: mdilley@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-296-9657