Dean Rahas recognized for two decades of coaching

by Martin McConnell

In the two years before Dean Rahas took over Revere High School’s boys basketball program, the team had a combined record of 3-39. After taking his post two decades ago, the Minutemen head coach has brought an unprecedented stability to the school’s basketball program.

In a show of appreciation for his dedication to the school, Rahas recently received the Bob Arnzen Award. The prestigious award is given to Ohio basketball coaches who stay with the same school for twenty years or more.

Rahas, a Cleveland State University graduate, said that he took on a few different jobs before landing at Revere. While coaching for the CSU Vikings as a graduate assistant, he shadowed Rollie Massimino, who would later win an NCAA National Championship with Villanova.

“I got hired out of college at Olmsted Falls High School,” he said. “I coached freshman basketball for a couple of years; I was a varsity assistant. Then my last two years at Olmsted Falls, I went back to Cleveland State as a graduate assistant coach.”

When Revere had an opening, Rahas saw the opportunity to lead a program of his own.

“I heard about the Revere job, and you know, I wanted to be a head coach,” he said. “I applied and got it. I’ve been here since, and it’s been great.”

In his 20 years with the Minutemen, Rahas’ teams have won six Suburban League conference championships. Additionally, he has guided his team to the regional finals of the OHSAA state tournament in 2018, the first time in school history.

“We went 19-5 [this year] and won the Suburban League,” he said. “We were 10-2 [within the league] and it was our fourth league championship in the past six years. I was really just proud of our guys.”

Despite being a smaller team with low outside expectations coming into the year, Rahas said his players rode efficient shooting, especially from the three-point range, to a league title.

“You know, we weren’t one of the teams that was favored,” he said. “So, it made it even better to do something special like that.”

Rahas is unable to recruit for Revere most of the time because it is a public school. He said that one of the keys to his success is the school’s youth program, which essentially acts as a feeder system.

“We’re always big on our youth program, ever since I took over,” he said. “Having our high school kids work with those kids at a young age. We want our young kids to feel an immediate connection to our program.”

According to Rahas, the 2022-23 Minutemen team often found itself outmatched in terms of size and strength but overcame the potential shortcomings through cohesive team play and hot shooting from deep.

“In terms of coaching … we’re not so much into teaching plays. We’re teaching kids how to play,” he said. “Our kids are pretty good at playing hard, playing smart and playing together. Our guys know that if they’re open, they better shoot the ball.”

As he moves into his 21st year as head coach, Rahas thanked the collection of players he has had over the years, and made his intentions known that he is not going anywhere. As long as he still has the support of the community, Rahas will keep coaching.

“We’ve had good fortune, we have a lot of good players,” he said. “You have to have parental and community support. I can’t thank enough people for supporting the program through tough times [and] good times.” ∞

Featured Photo: Revere varsity basketball coach Dean Rahas (second from left) stands with his Suburban
League Championship-winning team. Photo submitted.