Nesser makes ‘easy transition’ in return to bench at Yough

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, December 17, 2018 | 6:24 PM

Jim Nesser wasn’t sure what the future would hold after he coached one boys basketball season at Greensburg Central Catholic. Would he return? Would he go elsewhere? Would he call it a career?

Then the Yough job opened and the wheels began to turn. With a little coaxing and some reevaluating, a refreshing breeze blew in and he made the move back to Cougar Mountain, where his coaching career began in 1988.

The Y in the road stood for Yough.

“There are so many great people here and it feels right. It’s been an easy transition,” said Nesser, 58, who has made various coaching stops since his first stint at Yough. “I am glad I came back.”

The long-time social studies teacher at Yough said this likely will be his last stop, though, as he tries to turn the program around after two downtrodden seasons. It’s a full-circle story, no matter how it ends.

Yough is 2-2 so far, halfway to last year’s win total (4-17). A positive, yes. But Nesser hopes many more victories follow as his new approach takes root.

“Ness” has tried to adapt to the game rather than forcing an old-school style on his players.

The game, after all, has changed drastically over the last 30 years.

“When I started here in ‘88, we didn’t have a 3-point line,” Nesser said. “Now, everyone shoots 3s. Big guys, everyone. And everyone spreads the floor and goes. We did get in the weight room then, too. I’m still big on that.”

Nesser tries to make sure he doesn’t let his allegiance to Yough cloud his critical eye.

He didn’t at GCC, either. GCC is his alma mater, after all, but that did not make his job any easier last season. The Centurions went 6-15 and missed the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Much of it is a blur to Nesser.

“We had so many guys who hadn’t played much basketball,” Nesser said. “We didn’t have that chemistry. There are certain things you can’t teach in the gym. They’ve had some time to play together so they’ll be better now.”

As for Yough: “I’m a teacher here so I know the kids and they see me in a different role. I think that’s important. We have good kids here, and they have worked hard. It’s not going to happen overnight, and we have a ways to go.”

Yough was 1-21 two years ago, 5-38 since 2016 with one section win. So out went Casey Copeman, Nesser’s former assistant at Hempfield and Jeannette, and in came Nesser to try and be of service to a program that has only been to the WPIAL playoffs three times in the last 12 years.

In reality, the Cougars have not been a factor in the postseason since Ben McCauley, one of the school’s all-time greats who went on to play at North Carolina State, led Yough to the WPIAL finals in 2005.

Nesser has a tendency to turn up the intensity wherever he goes. He paces and barks from the sideline. He tells it like it is and reminds his players that nothing will be easy.”

“Practices have been tough, we don’t get too many water breaks,” said senior guard-forward Jarett Bach with a grin. “You aren’t allowed to say the word zone around him. Before, we were all zone (defense) and now it’s man-to-man. He expects a lot from us.”

Bach, a 6-foot-5 lefty baseball pitcher who has a scholarship to Pitt, had 28 points in a 60-55 loss to Southmoreland last week.

Nesser would probably need a map to find the nearest 2-3 zone, something he used to run a lot at Elizabeth Forward and some at Hempfield.

He didn’t need to use it at Jeannette when he coached players like Terrelle Pryor and Jordan Hall, players who led the Jayhawks to WPIAL and PIAA titles in 2008.

Nesser has won and lost and done everything in between, with different styles.

“These kids are used to a 2-3,” Nesser said of Yough. “They need to know they can play man against anyone. They’re good enough. I don’t even think we have zone built in; well, maybe for an emergency.”

A map might also help the Yough bus driver.

Now in Class 4A, Yough faces a challenging and somewhat out-of-the-way schedule that will test the Cougars with road trips north to Knoch, Freeport and Highlands.

Yough hosts Highlands in its Section 1 opener Thursday night.

One might assume that hour-plus bus rides and a time-intensive rebuild could weigh on a coach like Nesser, age him even. Not the case, he said. If his players don’t keep him young, his 20-month-old daughter, Kori, will.

Nesser remarried and started a new family.

“That’s the thing,” he said. “I look at this and coaching here is important to me, but it’s not the most important thing.”

Nesser’s staff includes former Jeannette athlete Darius Brown, Brian Zerone and William “Boo” Sherbondy, who coached with him at Jeannette and Hempfield.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Yough