Hegemier leaving Rangers to guide the Roughriders

St. Marys has always been a school known for a strong tradition in football and now the Roughriders have added one of the most successful coaches in the state to guide the boys basketball program.

Dan Hegemier is leaving the New Knoxville boys program to take over the same job at St. Marys for the 2009-10 season. Hegemier's resume is hard to match with a career record of 466-170 and three state championships in 27 seasons as the head coach of Waynesfield-Goshen, Spencerville, Fort Loramie and most recently New Knoxville.

The decision to leave New Knoxville in favor of St. Marys was a difficult one according to Hegemier, who replaces Paul Sadler after resigning as head coach of the Roughriders in April.

"It was a very, very, very hard decision for me to make leaving New Knoxville," said Hegemier, a graduate of New Knoxville. "It certainly didn't happen over night, but in the end, I did what was best for me and my family. I have lived in St. Marys since I got married in 1976 and I'm looking forward to the challenge ahead."

During Hegemier's last five seasons at New Knoxville, he led the Rangers to a record of 101-19 and won a state title while amassing a 60-0 record in the last three regular seasons.

"I loved the energy of the players, the fans and the community in my five years at New Knoxville and I loved their willingness to do what it took to be great," said Hegemier. "I can't think of a negative thing to say about New Knoxville, it was just time for me to make a change."

Hegemier has a rebuilding project on his hands at St. Marys after the Roughriders went 1-20 last year and have struggled to build a consistent winner in recent years.

"It's a new challenge for me, but I don't want to call it a big challenge," said Hegemier. "There are a lot of athletes at St. Marys and I just want to give the kids the confidence to be successful. The first thing that I have to do is get to know the kids and let the kids get to know me and develop some trust."

St. Marys athletic director Joe Blaine had a list of 25 applicants for the coaching vacancy, but admitted that when Hegemier showed interest, that he was the frontrunner.

"We had some good applicants that showed interest in this job, but Dan was the jewel of the group," said Blaine. "We're impressed with the way that he does things in practice and in games. We feel very fortunate to add him to our athletic program. His record and accomplisments speak for themselves and our kids are excited to have an established coach like Dan at our school. He will be a great presence for our young men on the court and off the court."

In addition to his coaching duties, Hegemier will also teach part time at St. Marys, helping students improve scores on the Ohio Graduation Test.

Hegemier's coaching history:
Accomplishments of new St. Marys head coach Dan Hegemier.
• Hegemier was 466-170 in 27 seasons as head coach at Waynesfield-Goshen (11-30 in two seasons), Spencerville (56-29 in four seasons), Fort Loramie (298-92 with two state titles in 16 seasons) and New Knoxville (101-19 with one state title in five seasons).
• Hegemier has won 14 league titles, 15 sectional titles, 11 district titles, four regional titles and three state titles (1987, 1993 and 2008).