This post was originally published on this site
Tustin High School boys basketball coach Ringo Bossenmeyer after a game this season. (PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Long-time highly successful Tustin High School boys basketball coach Ringo Bossenmeyer has resigned to accept an assistant coaching position at Chapman University, he said Friday.
“After 25 seasons as head coach, and four years as boys athletic director at Tustin High School, I have made the difficult decision to resign both positions effective at the end of the school year in order to join Coach Dan Krikorian’s basketball staff at Chapman University,” Bossenmeyer said.
“The opportunity to work with a bright and innovative coach like Coach Krikorian and his assistant coaches will allow me to continue growing as a coach, and it is an opportunity I simply could not pass up. I look forward to contributing in any way I can to an obviously already highly successful basketball program and prestigious university.
“My lifelong coach is to be the best coach I can be, even at my age. I’m going to be 59 and I’m still passionate about the game and growing as a coach, I really feel I can gain a great deal of knowledge and experience working under Coach Krikorian and his staff.”
Bossenmeyer said he also wants to spend more time with his parents.
“This transition will also provide me with the flexibility to spend more quality time with my parents, who will both turn 96 years old this year, and assist with their care,” he said. “The one thing they say is ‘you can’t get back time’ and my siblings and I have been beyond blessed to have our parents and to be able to spend quality time with them without having to look down at my watch or look at my phone for text messages, everything that encompasses being athletic director and basketball coach, it’s a 24/7 job and you’re pulled different directions.”
Bossenmeyer, who was named Orange County coach of the year three times, has coached high school basketball for 31 years. He coached at Orange High from 1991 to 1997.
He led Tustin the CIF 3AAA championship in 2013 when the Tillers had a school record 31-3. He led Tustin to 23 CIF playoff appearances and two appearances in the semifinal round of the CIF playoffs. The Tillers won league titles in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 and this past year when the team went 24-7 and captured two playoff victories.
Bossenmeyer also celebrated his 500th career victory last December when the Tillers defeated Northwood in the Rancho Alamitos Tournament.
“Looking back on 25 years at Tustin High, what I am most proud of is the fact that, as a coaching staff, we always prioritized the development of young men as individuals over team development,” he said. “Being the head basketball coach at Tustin High for the last 25 years has truly been the honor of a lifetime.”
Bossenmeyer said he expects officials will start to advertise the head coaching position by Monday. He will continue to teach a couple classes at Tustin.
“I’m just excited for the new challenge and new opportunity but at the same time, it’s bittersweet because between myself and my assistant coaches and the players, we put our heart and soul into the program for the past 25 years, but I’m looking forward to looking ahead and looking forward to putting somebody in place who is going to continue the proud tradition of Tustin basketball that was there long before I got there and hopefully will be there long after I’m gone,” he said.
Bossenmeyer informed his players of his decision this week.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com