Beloved Murrieta Basketball Coach Steps Down

MURRIETA, CA -- A beloved and longtime Murrieta Valley High basketball coach has resigned after 24 years in the job. Steve Tarabilda, who also taught at the school, stepped down, the school district announced Tuesday.

“There is no replacing a coach like Steve Tarabilda,” said Murrieta Valley High School Athletic Director Darin Mott. “Steve is truly one of a kind. He not only loved the game of basketball, he loved teaching and he loved kids. Every student athlete that came through his program was better off for the experience. Steve was never about the wins and losses; he was about the development of young men.”

Under Tarabilda's leadership, the basketball teams won six league championships and 21 tournament championships. Over 24 years, the team made 21 CIF playoffs appearances, a CIF 2AA Championship appearance and two State CIF playoff appearances, the school district said.

Tarabilda accumulated 446 career wins as a varsity coach, 386 of them as a Nighthawk. Tarabilda‘s three
sons were all Nighthawks varsity basketball players for their father.

Tarabilda served on the board of the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association for 15 years. SCIBCA inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2017 for contributing his time, talent and expertise to the growth of basketball throughout Southern California.

Tarabilda served on the CIF Basketball Advisory Committee and in 2010 he was named CIF Coach of the Year.

“Coach Tarabilda has been a fixture leading our boys’ basketball program and we will miss his leadership tremendously,” Mott said.

--Photos via Murrieta Valley Unified School District