Medical complications will keep longtime Serra head basketball coach Chuck Rapp away from the sidelines for the second time in four years, the school announced in a release Thursday afternoon.
Principal Charlie McGrath announced on Thursday that Rapp “is continuing to recover from a medical condition that required a previous surgery. Due to these ongoing medical issues and after consulting with his personal physician, he will take a year off to make a full recovery.”
Rapp missed the 2016-17 season as well, a year in which the Padres went 15-14, including 7-7 in WCAL play, under interim head coach Sean Dugoni. This year, Brian Carson, who has served as one of Rapp’s assistants for 13 years, will take the interim role.
Hip surgery in 2016 delayed Rapp’s induction into the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame after guiding the Padres to their first state championship in program history. During the 2016-17 season, he had initially hoped to return to the sidelines in time for the start of WCAL play, but ended up taking the whole season off. He has amassed a lifetime record of 371-163, including 166-82 in WCAL play. He is the first Serra coach since Pete Newell Jr., who coached the team in the 1973-74 season, to have a record above .500 in league contests. Rapp leads all Serra head coaches in league wins by more than 100 and is nearly 200 overall wins ahead of John Grosey, who led the program from 1989 to 2000 and ranks second.
As for Carson, he’ll be leading a team that graduated four starters from last year, returning just Antonio Abeyta from the regular lineup. Key returners from the bench include Julius Alcantara, outside shooter Ryan Wilson, 6-foot-9 center Muti Shuman and Damon Lewis, who won’t be joining the team until the conclusion of football season.
