Riverbend basketball searching for coach

Bears coach steps down after one year

Date published: 7/24/2009

BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

Riverbend High School girls basketball coach Robyn Gray resigned this week after one season on the job.

Gray said she wants to focus on building the Lady Hoop Booth, an AAU organization she co-founded in Stafford County.

Last season, Gray split her time between the Bears and Lady Hoop Booth. She's also the director of fitness at the Hoop Sports Booth complex in Stafford.

"I didn't think it would be fair to both entities to split my time," Gray said. "Both are very vital. I didn't want to cheat anyone. I just kind of felt like [Lady Hoop Booth] is what pays the bills."

Gray served as a long-term substitute teacher at Riverbend last school year.

She coaches six Riverbend players with Lady Hoop Booth. She's informed them she's leaving the Bears.

"They're not losing me as a coach," Gray said. "I'll still be involved in their lives as well as in their [college] recruiting process."

With an energetic sideline demeanor, Gray guided the Bears to a 20-6 record last season. They lost 74-72 to Franklin County in the Northwest Region quarterfinals.

They finished second in the Commonwealth District after winning district titles the previous four seasons. Gray certainly left an impression on her players in her lone season.

"Intensity is probably the word that describes her most," said former Riverbend forward Meredyth Frye, a rising freshman for Georgia Southern University. "She's crazy, but she's all about basketball. You can talk basketball with her for hours."

Gray was a point guard from 1993-95 for the University of Texas-San Antonio, where she earned recognition on the Southland Conference's all-defensive team.

The San Antonio native went on to a semiprofessional career in the Women's National Basketball League before serving as a flight attendant with United Airlines.

She took a leave of absence from her work in the flight industry to follow her dream of coaching basketball. She served as an intern coach with George Washington University in the 2007-08 season.

She said if she returns to coaching outside of Lady Hoop Booth, it will be at the collegiate level.

Before Gray arrived at Riverbend, the Bears were coached by Claude Tyler.

Gray said she and Riverbend athletic director Dave Lancaster recently met with Tyler in an attempt to get him to take over as coach again, but to no avail.

Tyler resigned in 2008 to serve as an assistant coach at Spotsylvania High, where his son plays.

Lancaster could not be reached for comment.

"I know what it feels like to have three coaches in three seasons," said Frye, who dealt with the issue in AAU basketball. "We'll see how it goes."

Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 7/24/2009