Twin Valley hires new boys basketball coach
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
Less than a month after seeing boys basketball coach Matt Herbener leave to take a job at Ephrata Twin Valley has hired RJ Proska to lead the program.
Proska, a longtime coach in the area, was approved by the Twin Valley school board Monday night.
“Basketball is something I’ve always been passionate about,” said Proska, a St. Pius X graduate. “This (job) is something I’ve thought about a lot and hoped for, and I figured the time was right (to go for it).”
Proska is heavily involved in the Raiders’ youth program. He coaches a grade school travel team for the Twin Valley Basketball Association and is a past president of the organization. He’s currently listed as the organization’s director of technology.
In the past he has coached at the middle school and AAU levels, and in summer leagues. He has coached many of the players currently in the Twin Valley program.
“I love being in the gym, working with kids,” Proska said. “There’s a really good group of kids here. This was a very attractive job. I want to do what’s best for the kids and help them get better each day.”
Proska takes over a young team that returns its entire starting lineup for next season; there was just one senior on the roster. His son Kieran is a freshman in the program; he appeared in four games for the Raiders last season.
Herbener, who coached the Raiders for two seasons, believes the team has a bright future.
“That team has the chance to explode next season,” he said. “We felt we finished the season very strong. Wins- and loss-wise, we didn’t get to where we wanted.”
The Raiders went 5-17 this season, won just one league game and finished last in Division II of the Berks Conference.
(Tim Macrina photo)
They got strong play from junior Matt Knight, who averaged 10.4 points and was named to the all-division team, and from sophomore Carter Schmidt, who led the team in scoring at 10.6 points. Kooper Zdimal, a junior, led the team with 33 3-pointers.
The Raiders were hurt by not having freshman Lucas Myers available. He suffered a shoulder injury and could not play; Herbener said he’s a promising player who could make an impact next season.
Twin Valley is one of five Berks boys basketball programs with a change at the top since the end of the season.
Garrett Etzel left Wyomissing after one season to take over at his alma mater, Gov. Mifflin. Terry Sitler retired after 10 years coaching at Fleetwood and was replaced earlier this month by Jason Bieber, who had been coaching the Brandywine Heights girls. Mike Dooley left Conrad Weiser after one season; he was replaced by Joey Negron.
The only remaining vacancy is at Wyomissing.
There were five new coaches in the Berks Conference for the 2023-24 season, at Conrad Weiser, Exeter, Oley Valley, Reading High, and Wyomissing.
Earlier this month, Matt Hahn was named head coach of Twin Valley’s girls basektball team.
The Raiders haven’t qualified for the District 3 playoffs in 12 years and haven’t won a district playoff game since 1995. They haven’t won a division title in 43 seasons. And they’ve never won a Berks Conference playoff game.
