“Coach K” is OK with his decision.
With 425 wins and 22 playoff trips in his scrapbook, longtime local basketball coach Rick Klimchock is retiring from the high school game after nearly four decades on the sidelines.
Klimchock spent the last nine seasons leading the Greensburg Salem girls and told the team he was stepping down after their final game Monday at Plum.
The retired guidance counselor who still works part-time at Adelphoi Village in Latrobe will continue to be an assistant with the Pitt-Greensburg men’s team, which is coached by his son, Chris Klimchock.
The elder Klimchock also plans to help with the UPG golf team.
Klimchock won’t be around to coach a game with the shot clock in two years, but his personal coaching clock was winding down. He could sense it.
“They say you know when it is time, and it’s time,” said Klimchock, 69. “I am so blessed to have made so many relationships — with players, coaches, referees, media. Everywhere I go, I know somebody. That is what I most proud of: the relationships.”
A time-consuming schedule finally began to wear on Klimchock, a bona fide hoops junkie who was running a high school program, helping coach a college one and following with great interest a third team.
His daughter, Laura, is the girlfriend of South Carolina men’s coach Lamont Paris.
The Klimchock family is synonymous with basketball. Chris, Ben and Laura were outstanding players. They have an eye for talent.
“Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college program,” Rick Klimchock said. “Chris has done a incredible job with that the last five years. I will have more time to do that (with UPG). I can go to Columbia (S.C.) for more games now, and maybe I can visit (another son) Ben (Klimchock) in San Antonio (Texas).”
Funny thing — Rick Klimchock never played high school basketball. He was a football player at Greensburg Central Catholic and went on to play wide receiver at Washington & Jefferson.
“Nope, never played,” he said. “I was cut my freshman year. Football was my thing. I caught more passes in games in college than I did in seasons (at GCC).”
He knew he wanted to be a coach and became enamoured with the game when he led the boys junior varsity team for eight years at Greensburg Central Catholic, beginning 1978-79.
He coached football and basketball initially.
Klimchock was fortunate to join the Centurions in the PIAA finals in 1979-80.
From there, he went to Jeannette where he coached the Jayhawks from 1992-2006 and posted 243 wins, six section titles and made the WPIAL semifinals three times.
Jeannette made the WPIAL playoffs 13 times in 14 years and went to the PIAA tournament nine times on his watch.
Some of his most memorable years are with the Jayhawks.
“My hardest decision was in 2006 at Jeannette,” he said. “We had Terrelle (Pryor), Davonte Shannon, a bunch of guys back; Jordan Hall was there the next year. I think about what would have happened had I stayed. But I couldn’t not watch Chris (Klimchock) play. I missed his freshman year.
“God is good, though. I got to watch Chris and Ben go to the state finals.”
Going from the boys game to the girls, he guided Franklin Regional for six years and made three WPIAL playoff trips.
After a year with the eighth grade boys at GCC, he took over at Greensburg Salem in 2017. He won 105 games and made six playoff trips with the Golden Lions.
“It was a heckuva carousel,” he said.
Klimchock finished with a record of 425-318.
He said some might question why he is departing Greensburg Salem now, just like they did when he left Jeannette.
“We’ll have four starters back,” he said. “And we’re moving to 4A and have a really good middle school program. It was hard to leave. It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment (decision). I became so close with our alums. I am proud in the fact we made (girls) basketball important again (at Greensburg Salem).”
But the long hours were taking their toll. Klimchock put his own time into the program in the summer months, with daily workouts and a league at Hempfield Recreation. He never took a dime for camps, funneling money to the program and boosters.
“I always wanted to build a program,” he said. “I tried to have a guidance counselor mentality as a coach. My mom taught me to care for other people and try to help others all the time. She’s still living at 95.”
Klimchock coached the full prep careers of 11 1,000-point scorers, including nine at Jeannette.
Klimchock also was an assistant for brief stints at GCC (second time), Saltsburg and Saint Vincent. He also did some broadcast work for SVC games with WCNS.