 After spending the
last 10 years as the head coach of the Los Alamitos
High boy's basketball team, former Cerritos College
men's basketball player and assistant coach
Russ May has returned to the Falcon
program. May replaces Jesse Teplitzky,
who resigned last week after just one year as the
head coach. May was a finalist for the Cerritos job
last year before Teplitzky was hired. He said he was
happy thinking he'd spend the rest of his career at
Los Alamitos before being contacted by Cerritos
after Teplitzky's resignation. But, in the same
breath, he was happy to be given the chance to coach
the Falcons.
"Cerritos College
is home for me," said May, who led the Griffins to
two CIF Southern Section championships during his
tenure. "Throughout my career, Cerritos has opened
doors for me and I am very excited to be back here.
It was really tough to leave such a great school
like Los Alamitos. Everyone there treated me great
the entire time and they were supportive of my
decision to come back home."
May has officially
resigned at Los Alamitos as coach and athletic
director, a position he accepted just two months
ago, but will continue as a full-time government and
social science teacher for the upcoming school year.
He said he'll help in the search for a new athletic
director and boys basketball coach and hopes to have
both positions filled by the time school starts next
week.
"Just as I viewed taking on the athletic director position as
a challenge, I am viewing coming back to Cerritos as
a challenge," added May. "After talking with my wife
(Andrea) and kids (Madison, Everett and Sydney), we
felt as a family that this would be a great
opportunity, which excites me. Just walking back on
campus and seeing so many familiar faces, that was
also a huge factor in making the decision. I already
have a great relationship with people such as
(women's basketball coach) Karen Welliver, (football
coach) Frank Mazzotta, (track coach) Doug Wells and,
of course Dean Ackland, who has been a friend since
my playing days here. The network of support here is
amazing."
May played for the
Falcons from 1989-91 and was an assistant coach
under Jack Bogdanovich and Ackland from 1994-1999.
"We're
very excited about (hiring May)," said Cerritos athletic
director Kodee Murray. "We loved that he was a Cerritos
graduate ... and he has a reputation for doing things
the right way."
"Russ is an outstanding coach," added Welliver, who has known
May since his playing days at Cerritos. "We're really
lucky to have him." Welliver added that May is an
excellent teacher - both in the classroom and on the
court - and called him patient, positive and tenacious.
"He doesn't quit on things," she said.
May, a Mayfair High graduate, thinks his toughest challenges
are the short transition period he has to work with and
not being an on-campus coach for his first season. Among
the sophomores scheduled to return to Cerritos are
forward Marcellus Jackson, a first-team
All-South Coast Conference South Division and 2nd Team
All-State performer, along with All-SCC South second
team guard Jeremy Pope.
"I met with the team the other day and they were very
receptive to what I had to say," said May. "They were
very polite and cordial and we all left the meeting
confident about our futures together. We have a lot of
work to do, but we're going to get at it and have a good
season as a team."
Under May, Los
Alamitos won CIF crowns in 2006 (Division I-A) and
2007 (I-AA) and reached the Division I Southern
California final in 2006. Last season, the Griffins
were seeded fourth in the I-AA playoffs before being
upset by Lynwood in the second round. May also led
his teams to nine league championships in his 10
seasons.
In Teplitzky's one season at Cerritos, the Falcons went 15-14
overall and won the SCC South championship with a
9-1 record. Cerritos won one playoff game and were
on the verge of upsetting top-seeded Saddleback
College, who ended up advancing to the state
championship game. Teplitzky was also selected the
SCC South Coach of the Year.
Teplitzky said the decision to resign was his alone and that
he accepted an assistant coaching position with a
professional team in Mexico, Las Abejas de
Guanajuato of the LNBP, which is the top
professional league in Mexico. He will be an
assistant coach/scout and will share responsibility
in scouting prospective players, which will require
travel throughout North America and South America.
"It's a good position and it's an opportunity for me to break
into the professional game," Teplitzky said. "It
could be a stepping stone to bigger and better
things. It was a good time to make a move and I
decided to do it. I'm looking forward to getting a
taste of the professional level"
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