Central's Truhan Becomes Top Assistant In Caldwell Women's Basketball Program

BERKELEY TOWNSHIP, NJ — Kristina Danella remembers one of her last encounters with John Truhan on the basketball court.

Danella was a senior at Red Bank Catholic at the time. The Caseys were — and still are — a powerhouse team at both the Shore Conference and state levels. Truhan was the coach of the Colts Neck High School girls basketball team at the time. The teams were facing off in the semifinals of the 2008 Shore Conference Tournament.

"Truhan upset us," Danella said, the memory of that loss still a bit bitter. But a seed was planted, too.

When Danella was searching for a new assistant coach to help her with the women's basketball program at Caldwell University, the suggestion of Truhan brought an immediate response:

"I gotta get this guy," Danella said. And the third-year coach at the NCAA Division II school has done just that.

"I played against him my whole life," she said. "And my dad is a Shore Conference official. Every time he had one of (Truhan's) games he talked about (Truhan) and about how much respect he had for him."

"I knew this was who I needed for my staff," she said.

Truhan, who has coached the Central Regional girls basketball for seven seasons, has accepted a position as Danella's top assistant coach, beginning immediately. He will remain as an honors math teacher at Central Regional, where he is tenured, he said.

"I lost my assistant coach this summer," said Danella, who was an assistant coach and then interim head coach at Urbana University in Ohio before taking over the Caldwell program. "I wanted someone who I trust and who I have the utmost respect for. I needed someone with knowledge of the game, someone with experience and who has been successful."

"John Truhan fits all of those," she said.

Truhan, who was inducted into the New Jersey State Coaches Hall of Fame in the spring of 2015, has spent 18 years coaching high school girls basketball, beginning at Toms River South in 1997-98. He took the Indians to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III championship and to the Group III final in 2001, the first in school history, before moving on to Colts Neck in 2003. There he guided the Cougars to the SCT championship in 2008 (the first SCT girls title by a public school in nearly 20 years) and to the 2009 Central Jersey Group IV and overall Group IV titles en route to the Tournament of Champions final against another state and Shore powerhouse, St. John Vianney.

Truhan came to Central Regional in the summer of 2009 to eliminate the long commutes to the Monmouth County school and be able to spend more time with his wife, Kim, and children, Kristi and John. He coached the Golden Eagles to three Shore Conference Class B South titles, in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and Central reached the second round of the South Jersey Group III playoffs every year except the 2009-10 season and last season. The Golden Eagles twice reached the state sectional semifinals during his time as coach.

But he is even more proud of the fact that the Golden Eagles twice received Shore Conference Sportsmanship Awards during his tenure, including during the 2013-14 season, when he notched his 300th career victory as a coach. He finishes with 324 victories (101 at Central) and 144 losses in his high school coaching career. He was named state Coach of the Year once, has two awards as Shore Conference Coach of the Year, eight division Coach of the Year selections, four county coach of the year selections and twice was chosen as a head coach for the NJSCA Senior All-Star Game.

Despite that resume, Truhan said, "My passion is teaching."

"I am very grateful that Central Regional allowed me to come here, where I could continue my hobby of coaching and still be the father and husband I needed to be," Truhan said.

Coming to Central "allowed me to read Dr. Seuss and help with homework, and just be involved with my own kids," and spend more time with Kim, he said. While he had the opportunity to coach Kristi last year as a freshman on the Golden Eagles' varsity, "my kids are grown enough and mature enough and skilled enough that they don't need me to coach them," he said.

"This is an incredible opportunity," Truhan said, adding that his family fully supported his decision to take the position. "How many high school coaches get asked to coach at the college level?"

Danella said Truhan will be her top assistant coach, "involved in every facet, from scouting to game management to practice planning" and even some recruiting.

The former Caseys' star said Truhan has already set about putting his experience and knowledge to work, joining the team on Sunday for one of its first practices of the 2016-17 season.

One of his first actions?

"He brought a copy of the article (about Colts Neck's upset victory over RBC)," she said with a laugh.

John Truhan recorded his 300th victory during the 2014-15 season. He steps away from high school coaching with an overall record of 324-144, including 101 victories at Central. Karen Wall photo