Former Mustangs standout in line to be next Mifflin boys basketball coach
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Garrett Etzel is headed home.
The former Gov. Mifflin basketball standout is expected to be named head boys basketball coach at his alma mater Monday when the Mifflin school board meets.
Etzel is on the board agenda to be approved as Mustangs coach. He’ll replace Brian Wrobel, who coached the team the last two seasons.
Etzel was head coach at Wyomissing this season after spending five seasons as an assistant in the program. The Spartans finished 11-11 and did not make the postseason.
Etzel, 39, was an All-Berks pick with the Mustangs as a senior in 2003 when he averaged 19.8 points. As a junior he teamed with Brandon Smith to lead the Mustangs to 22 victories, second-most in program history.
He scored 42 points against Conestoga Valley in Mifflin’s season-opener in 2003. That’s still a program record.
The Mustangs have finished with a winning record just four times since Etzel graduated, and not in the last four years.
They went 8-14 this season and 7-15 last year under Wrobel, a former assistant for the late Kyle Conrad, whom he succeeded.
Etzel will be Mifflin’s fourth head coach in eight years.
Etzel was a late bloomer with the Mustangs. He didn’t score a point as a sophomore, unusual for a player who went on to be a 1,000-point scorer and Hall-of-Famer at the next level.
He averaged 17.4 points as a senior at Alvernia and was named PAC Player of the Year after leading Alvernia to back-to-back league championships.
He topped 1,000 career points and is among the program’s Top 10 in 3-pointers, 3-point shooting percentage and steals. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2019.
The Mustangs return their top five scorers next season, including all-division pick Matt Koehler, who averaged a team-best 11.5 points, and Andrew Galantuomo, who averaged 9.3 points and should be one of the league’s top point guards.
