Jim Robarts to assume Abp. Shaw basketball reins

Archbishop Shaw High School reached back into the past today by naming Hall of Fame basketball coach Jim Robarts to head its basketball program.

Robarts, who led Archbishop Rummel to back-to-back Class 4A state championships in 1977 and 1978, begins his job as a teacher and coach on Monday at the ripe age of 69.

“To have someone of Jim Robarts’ ability and stature to come in at this time with the start of basketball (preseason practices) one week away is fortunate for us,” Shaw athletic director Tom Alef told sportsnola.comtoday. “He is the kind of person that could handle such an adverse situation.”

He replaces Tommy Monnier, who left the school at the end of the 2010-11 school year following a 14-14 season and a 2-6 district record. Robarts met with the team for the first time this afternoon.

“I thank God for this opportunity,” he said. “I prayed that some day I would be a Catholic school coach again.”

Robarts, who also coached at East Jefferson and Haynes Charter in Metairie from 1988-2009, had not been a coach in the Archdiocese of New Orleans since 1970.

During his long, successful career, his teams prior to coaching the East Jefferson girls and the fledgling boys’ program at Haynes have given him a record of 688 victories and 394 losses. He is the most successful boys’ basketball coach in New Orleans history, with more than 100 victories more than the legendary St. Aloysius and De La Salle coach Johnny Altobello. The closest coach to him in career victories is Bonnabel’s Glenn Dyer, with a coaching record of 608-361.

Robarts was inducted into the Louisiana High School Coaches’ Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Rummel Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

Robarts burst onto the scene as a championship coach when he led Rummel to the state finals in 1972. His top player was 6-9 Jeff Cummings, who went to SMU, then later transferred to Tulane. He later had a short NBA career with the Boston Celtics.

That year, Brother Martin, the defending state champion under Coach Andy Russo, was the No. 1-ranked team in the Class 4A. But Robarts guided the Raiders past the Crusaders and into the finals, where they barely lost to Woodlawn and its great center – and Hall of Fame Celtic center – Robert Parish, 50-49. Rummel finished with a 31-3 record that year.

When Robarts and Russo, whose Brother Martin teams also won back-to-back state titles in 1970 and 1971, met during the summer for the first time in 40 years, Russo told him, “I always respected you and your teams. Your defenses at Rummel gave us more trouble than any other team we faced.”

In 1977, Rummel won its first state championship by upsetting previously undefeated DeRidder in the championship game, 52-48. That win and championship was vindication for Robarts and the Raiders, which lost to the Dragons by eight points in a regular-season tournament game in Lake Charles. The title put the wrappings on a 31-4 record.

In 1978, with four starters returning, including All-Staters Wade Blundell and Barry Barocco, and another 6-9 center in Dean Carpenter, Rummel repeated as king of Class 4A via an 83-74 win over Fair Park. The victory gave the Raiders a perfect 34-0 record and extended its victory streak to 49 over two seasons.

Robarts was concerned about carrying a perfect mark into the title game, not knowing how his team would react to one last test. He was quoted as saying, “All year long, people were asking if we could handle the pressure. You saw us out there tonight. The kids were able to handle it.”

In 1970 he left Rummel amid a shroud of controversy when the parents of two Rummel basketball players complained that they did not like the way he coached their sons. The school administration yielded to the parents’ demands that he be fired.

Rummel had a few years of success when the school elevated Robarts’ assistant, Rusty Jones, but has yet to win another title since Robarts’ departure.

He entered the Jefferson Parish Public School System as head basketball coach at East Jefferson, replacing another Hall of Famer, Nick Revon, in 1988. There he led the Warriors to a No. 1 ranking in Class 5A and a USA Today national ranking of No. 13 in 1994. But the Warriors lost to Byrd High, 52-34, in the state semifinals.

Robarts now faces a new pressure situation. His Shaw team enters a new Class 4A district following the break-up of the Catholic League. The opponents will be four schools with athletically gifted players, including McDonogh 35, O. Perry Walker, Helen Cox and Edna Karr. Belle Chasse is the other district member.

“Jim is coming into a completely competitive district, but I’m optimistic that with him we will do extremely well,” Alef said.

“We’re at an unfortunate disadvantage because I don’t know what the players can do and what they can’t do,” Robarts said. “I wasn’t able to evaluate them during the summer, so we’re behind the others right now.

“I hope we can be fundamentally sound and put an extra effort into our defense. I just need to find what our strength and weaknesses are and work with them from there.”

Robarts will teach two classes of World History, one geography class and a physical education period.