Demond Cowins guided West Orange to a 15-11 campaign last winter. (Photo Courtesy of Demond Cowins)
WEST ORANGE, NJ — Former West Orange High School boys varsity head basketball coach Demond Cowins expressed his gratitude for having the opportunity to lead the program for the past seven seasons.
Cowins recently was not reappointed by the West Orange Board of Education.
The WOHS Mountaineers enjoyed a successful 15-11 campaign this past winter under Cowins, a big turnaround from the two-win year in the previous season.
One of the impressive wins this season was against Columbia, one of the top teams in Essex County, in a Super Essex Conference crossover game on Feb. 9 at home. The victory was the second of a late-season five-game winning streak. Columbia finished with 19 victories on the season.
In Cowins’ second season in 2017-18, the Mountaineers went 16-10 overall.
In a text message to the West Orange Chronicle, Cowins wrote, “I’m grateful to serve our great community of West Orange. As a resident, parent and educator, it has been an incredible learning experience. My staff and I were able to navigate through probably one of the toughest challenges in the history of athletics at West Orange HS. In the 2021-2022 season, we had to sit out for over 30 days without practice or games. We did our very best to salvage that season by playing 15 games within a five-week period without any preparation.
“This past season in 2022-2023, our program was able to bounce back by winning 15 games and beating one of the top-ranked teams in Essex County. We also earned our first state (tournament) home game since the 2015-2016 season. I was named the SEC Independence Division, Coach of the Year.
“I’m so grateful for all of the opportunities that have been provided during my tenure as a head coach to help develop our West Orange boys. My coaching staff and I were able to shift the mindsets of many parents and their student-athletes. We developed a solution to the challenges of keeping our home-grown talent. With the hard work of our coaching staff and myself, we have set the West Orange High School basketball program on the right path for many years to come. Most of our WO middle school basketball chose to attend WO High School over local parochial schools based on the foundation that we have built.
“Although there was a coaching personnel decision made to go in a different direction, I will continue to work to create positive experiences for our West Orange community.”
Cowins is a business teacher and the cooperative coordinator at WOHS. He said he will spend some time with his family before considering several coaching opportunities.
Chuck Keegan, who was the girls head varsity basketball coach at Columbia for the past five years, was named as the new WOHS boys basketball head coach.
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