GALION, Ohio — Colby Bright never intended to vacate his post as Crestline’s boys basketball coach.
“But it’s hard to turn down your hometown,” Bright said.
A 2002 Galion graduate, Bright was recently introduced as Galion’s new boys basketball coach. He takes over for Ed Rich, who piloted the Tigers to a 10-14 record last winter before stepping down in April to take over as the head coach at Bellevue, his alma mater.
Bright, who played two years of basketball and ran track at Bluffton University before graduating in 2006, takes over during a time of transition for the Tigers. Galion will drop to Division III in basketball after spending the past four years in Division II. Galion had a two-year run in Division III during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.
“The biggest difference between Division II and Division III is the depth,” Bright said. “There are great players at every level. There are more of them at the higher levels. Most Division II programs go nine or 10 players deep. Division III schools aren’t quite as deep.”
Galion won a Division II district championship during the 2008-09 season before dipping to Division III. The Tigers, who haven’t won a conference championship since 1974-75, finished in a three-way tie for fifth in the eight team Red Division of the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference last season.
“We should have nine seniors this year,” said Bright, who was a coach in the Galion system for five years before taking over at Crestline. “I coached seventh grade for two years and eighth grade for a year and was the junior varsity coach for two years, so I know a lot of these kids.
“We want to continue to build on what they did last year, while building up the youth program.”
Bright, who was also co-coach of the Galion track team, is the general manager at Ohio Specialty Services in Bucyrus.
“Not being a teacher and not being in the building is a little bit of a disadvantage,” Bright said. “I would like to be able to check up on the kids.”
Preparations for next season are underway.
“We have been to a few shootouts and we’ve got some events coming up,” Bright said. “We’ve got some experienced kids and they are working hard.”
“…It’s hard to turn down your hometown,” Galion Boys Basketball Coach Colby Bright said.
