BY GREG GULAS
      Boardman News Sports
      bnews@zoominternet.net
      The 57th Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame banquet, sponsored by Briarfield Health Care Centers and Ed and Diane Reese, is set for Sunday, May 3, 2026, with 12 new members set for enshrinement during ceremonies at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center in Boardman.
      Area basketball standout, coach and administrator Rich Denamen, a Hubbard High School star who went on to great success for the late, great area head coach Dom Rosselli at Youngstown State University, joins the late Bonnie Beachy of Struthers High School and Kent State University as the two hoop standouts in this year’s class.
      Born October 1, 1950, he is a 1968 HHS graduate where he was mentored under the watchful eye of head coach Jack Theil, helping the Eagles to a 5-15 hardwood mark as a junior then as co-captain the following season, led the team to an 18-6 overall ledger, A plus 13-win turnaround, and the District championship as members of the tough Steel Valley Conference.
      He served as president of his senior class, earned second-team all-SVC laurels for his efforts and was presented the Sharon Hoyle Tournament’s ‘Best Sportsmanship’ award that same year.
      Upon graduation he earned a scholarship to Youngstown State where under the tutelage of Rosselli, helped the team to an 82-25 (.766).overall mark and two NCAA, Division II playoff appearances during his four letter-winning seasons with the Penguins.
      As a freshman, he was a key contributor in the team that went 19-7 (.631, 14-4 at home and 5-3 on the road) then as a sophomore, helped the team to their first of two NCAA Division II post-season tournament appearances as they finished 22-5 (.815), posted a perfect 14-0 mark at home (they were 8-3 on the road, 0-2 on a neutral site) but went 0-2 in the post-season, falling to Philadelphia Textile in the opening game, 79-52, then dropping a heartbreaking 94-91 decision in their second fray of the Mideast Regional in Reading, Pennsylvania).
      As a junior in 1970-71, the team finished 19-6 (.760, 15-2 at home and 4-4 on the road) but was denied a playoff berth but as a senior, the team authored a 22-7 ledger and made their second post-season appearance in three years.
      That senior campaign, the Penguins defeated their first-two opponents of the Mideast Regional (defeating Gannon, 81-71 then Cheyney State, 90-80), but were eliminated by the host Akron Zips, 87-71,
      Denamen earned his undergraduate degree in education from YSU in 1972 – later earning his MA from YSU in 1977 – and was hired by Austintown Local Schools as a health and physical education instructor, and assistant basketball coach.
      From 1973-78 he served as an assistant on the Falcons’ boys cage staff, assuming the reins of the program in 1978 where he served as head coach until 1985.
      He guided the team to a 22-3 overall mark and the District championship in 1979-80, was named the MVCA (Mahoning Valley Coaches Association) ‘Coach of the Year’ that same season and during his time as head mentor, posted a 104-54 (.658) overall mark in 158 games played.
      He later served as a graduate assistant on head coach Jim Cleamons’ staff at YSU from 1987-89 and from 1989-91, was a trusted assistant to head coach Bob Patton of the Youngstown Pride where he helped the team to two World Basketball League crowns.
      In addition to his teaching and coaching careers, he also spent 24 years in educational administration, including 10 as superintendent of Austintown Schools and six more as Mahoning County ESC superintendent.
      Among his many honors and awards, he was named coach of the MVCA Schoolboy Basketball Classic (1979-80), was selected MVCA president (1985), was honored by the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches with their HOF Award (1985) for 104 career victories and was an Austintown Growth Foundation Hall of Fame inductee in 2000.
      A Hubbard Alumni honoree (2002), he was selected campaign chairman of the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley (2010), was presented the YSU Beeghly College of Education ‘Lifetime Educational Service Award’ in 2011 and honored by the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services-Human Performance Exercise Sciences with its ‘Alumni of the Year’ award in 2012.
      A 2012 inductee into the Austintown Fitch Athletics Hall of Fame, he was also selected for induction into the Hubbard High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.
      A member of Austintown Kiwanis for 15 years, he serves on both the Salvation Army and United Way Advisory Boards and is currently president of the YSU Penguin Club, a two-year post that will expire in 2027.
      He is married to the former Marcia Stahura and they are the proud parents of two sons, Scott (Eileen) and Brian (Mindy).They have four grandchildren, Cadence, J.T., Brian and Molly.
      Doors open at 4 p.m., dinner will be served at 5 p.m. with the program set to commence at 6 p.m. Individual tickets are $60 each, tables of eight $480 and will be available after February 1.
      Further information can be obtained by calling 330-506-6774 or by visiting the Curbstone Coaches organization website at www.thecurbstonecoaches.org