Winning never gets old for Burlingame coach Pete Harames

BURLINGAME, Calif. — Pete Harames made just two rules for himself before taking over the head boys basketball coaching job at Burlingame (Calif.) two years ago.

"Don't use the world ‘old' and don't tell the kids how old I am — unless they ask," he said.

Well, Harames is 68 (we asked), but there's nothing old or "old school" about winning.

Since returning to the varsity coaching ranks following a 2002 retirement from Capuchino (San Bruno), the gregarious, upbeat coach is 45-12, including 24-3 this season, a No. 6 section ranking and a second seed heading into the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs starting Friday.

They take on Archbishop Riordan (San Francisco) of the West Catholic Athletic League 5:30 p.m. at Santa Clara High School. The Open Division was set up largely to put all the traditional private schools powers together to duke it out.

Harames is happy the Panthers will be taking a full swings themselves.

"I wanted to go in," he said. "I believe in playing the best and seeing where you stand."

How refreshing is that? Harames was a giant breath of fresh air after former head coach Jeff Dowd, 266-99 with eight league titles from 2000 to 2012, was forced to resign amid accusations he treated some players harshly.

Dowd had hired Harames in 2010 as his freshman coach, a level he had planned to stay. With the program in turmoil, Harames agreed to take over for one season with the hopes that Dowd would return.

During that one season, even though star point guard Frankie Ferrari had transferred to Riordan, Harames guided the Panthers to their first CCS Division III title. When Dowd didn't return — and Ferrari did — he agreed to coach another season, another banner one that included a Peninsula Athletic League title on Saturday.

There's been plenty to navigate during these two seasons, but Harames, who led Capuchino to a 1995 Northern California D3 title, has had the tools and patience to maneuver through it all.

He merely points to the players — all 20 on a hefty roster.

"I have a special relationship with this group," he said. "I've had most of them since they were freshmen. They like to work, they have great personalities and there's lots of enthusiasm. It's refreshing."

The best of the bunch is USF-bound Ferrari, a 5-foot-11 point guard who averages 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. Harames, a 1962 graduate of Capuchino who coached there for 22 seasons, said Ferrari is as "good as I've seen. The best part is he's a great leader, our hardest worker and toughest competitor."

He along with 6-7 senior post Nick Loew (14.6 points, 11.7 rebounds per game) are the team's big scoring threats, along with 6-foot small forward Justin Gutang (10.9 ppg), a junior. "Nick is a ferocious rebounder and improved immensely," Harames said. "Justin is very talented. He can shoot the 3 or drive to the hoop."

Feisty defender and 3-point shooting threat Kevin Abuyaghi (5-10) and glue guy Jack Larratt (6-2) completes the starting five. Bassel Mufarreh is a strong backup for Loew and Ferrari's brother Vinny Ferrari is a strong defender and overall presence.

With 15 reserves, there's more for Harames to navigate. "I'm enjoying every minute," he said. "I don't see much change in kids. Except after practice I see most of them getting on their phones."

Not Ferrari, he said. "Guys like him and Nick are looking for another court to play on."

It's helped immensely to have a group of experienced and savvy assistants.

Steve Kassel was a student manager for Lefty Driesell at Maryland 1978-81 and hasn't stopped teaching the game since then. Rob Ennis has been a Burlingame assistant for 16 years, Rich Jauregi is a varsity assistant and freshman head coach and George Grizmore has been with Harames for seemingly ever and is five years his senior.

"When I got back into coaching I thought I'd do it for a couple years," he said. "I certainly didn't expect all this."