Return to Wilson difficult trip for Doug Myer, Raiders

By Jason Guarente — MikeDragoSports.com senior correspondent

The first strange moment in what was destined to become a strange night happened when the bus pulled into Wilson’s parking lot. Doug Myer told the driver where to drop off the team.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

Myer was sure. He’d been to this gym a few times before. Enough times to win 338 games and five county championships. The question was funny given the circumstances.

“She said it innocently,” Myer said with a smile. “She didn’t know the story.”

This was the first time Myer returned to Wilson to coach. That made it the hardest time. He took over at Twin Valley in September, three seasons after he was forced out at Wilson.

Everything was so familiar and yet so unusual. Myer shook more hands and exchanged more hugs than he usually does at a road game. That’s because he was really at home. This is his alma mater. This is where he was a head coach for 18 seasons.

“I haven’t been in this gym in a while,” Myer said. “I was in it almost every day for winters on end. But it was nice. I saw a lot of longtime friends that I haven’t touched base with.”

Wilson held off Twin Valley 36-27 in a Berks I-II girls basketball crossover Friday night. Keira Levengood and Amiyah Nguyen each scored 10 points to lead the Bulldogs.

This wasn’t an ideal matchup for Myer’s new team. Twin Valley is undersized and Wilson has the tallest lineup in the league. The Raiders put a scare into the Bulldogs. They trailed 26-25 after three quarters. They didn’t make enough shots to pull off the upset. They were 1-for-14 over the final eight minutes.

Myer tried to treat it like any other game. He focused his players on Wilson’s strengths, not on his personal history at the school. 

“When we got here we remembered,” senior Anna Kaplan said. “He didn’t really talk about it much.”

Chris Gallo had the unenviable task of coaching against a Wilson giant on Wilson’s floor. Gallo took over prior to last season, two years after Myer departed. The two became friends when Gallo was a boys assistant at Wilson. They have a lot in common. Both are coaches. Both are math teachers.

Planning for this game reminded Gallo of when he was with Schuylkill Valley’s boys and he went against Reggie Weiss and Matt Coldren. Other Wilson giants.

“We’ve never coached against each other,” Gallo said of Myer. “But we have. It’s that whole crew. The way they play. The deliberate style. The fundamentals.”

In other words, it was like coaching against Wilson.

Myer walked into a challenging situation at Twin Valley. He didn’t take over until a few months before opening night. The Raiders had to replace three starters. Former coach Mark Morrow had a bond with many of these girls that dated back years. Myer had to earn the trust of a new group of players.

“We were all iffy about him at first,” senior Natali Foster said earlier this season. “We were so used to Coach Morrow. But we love him now. We’re so glad we have him.”

Twin Valley (5-2, 10-5) is in first place in Berks II and on target to qualify for the District 3 Class 5A playoffs. That was no sure thing in the preseason. The Raiders’ hard-nosed defensive style will make them a playoff threat.

Myer, who also coached cross country and track at Wilson, was removed from his coaching positions and resigned as a teacher at the end of the 2018-19 school year after being suspended for reasons the district refused to disclose. An outpouring of support from students past and present failed to get him reinstated.

Some of that support remains. A small contingent of friends stayed long after the final horn and applauded Myer when he went over to chat with them.

As Twin Valley’s players gathered their belongings and returned to the bus, a maintenance worker named Randy walked past. He pulled down his mask so Myer could recognize him. The two shook hands.

“We spent a lot of late nights here together,” the coach said.

The grandest reminders of Myer’s time at Wilson were in a trophy case that hangs an outlet pass away from the visitor’s bench. Myer isn’t in all of those championship pictures, but he’s in most of them.

“There were times after games when everybody left and I’d be the only one in the gym,” Myer said. “I would just stop for a minute before walking out the door thinking about how many special moments we’ve had on this floor. I’m corny like that. There’s a certain emotion to walking into this place. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t.”

Myer fought back tears as he told that story.

More great moments are waiting for him in his coaching career. They’ll just happen somewhere else.