Gavinski named Tosa West girls basketball coach

They say good things are worth waiting for, so you can understand how happy Ron Gavinski is.

The 55-year-old Gavinski has been named head coach of the Wauwatosa West girls basketball team this week, his first head coaching job in a long career of being a successful assistant.

“I can’t tell you how excited I was,” he said when offered the job by athletic/activities director Nathan DeLany. “This gives me a chance to take a program in a direction that I want to.

“I was very fortunate to work with Jerry Hastings at Greendale. What he and I did together, the kids bought into and I believe our kids will buy into it at Tosa West too.”

Gavinski will also quick to praise former coach Mike Pietrowiak, who he worked with the past few years, as his JV coach.

“We all should appreciate what Mike’s done and contributed to the program and thank him for that,” he said.

Gavinski compiled a 22-20 record as JV coach at Tosa West the past two years and he was an assistant varsity and freshman coach at Marquette University High School for five years, compiling a 81-9 record, an amazing .900 winning percentage.

He teamed up with Hastings at Greendale and put together an excellent stretch of basketball for 14 years as the assistant varsity and JV coach for the Panthers.

The Panthers compiled a .770 winning percentage (214-64) and at one point put together a record 46-game conference winning streak (2003-2006).

They also won six conference championships, four regional championships, a sectional championship and a state tournament appearance.

“Ron comes with great basketball knowledge,” Delany said about Gavinski’s hiring. “He has the experience of rebuilding the program from the ground up as he did as an assistant coach in Greendale.

“What separated Ron from other candidates was his ability to communicate his vision and passion for Tosa West Girls Basketball.”