Spurchise will take over the varsity basketball coaching reins at Milford High School from longtime coach Bill Crowley, who retired after last season. Spurchise was named the head ocach at a school board meeting last month.

Crowley will be a tough act to follow, having led his teams to seven straight Tri-Valley division titles and four Tri-Valley Championships in the past seven years, and a Section Four Class D title in 1999.

Spurchise is well aware of the team's success, having coached the junior varsity for all but one year while Crowley was coaching the varsity.

"With all the success, the kids have a winning attitude and go into a game expecting to win," Spurchise said. "We've had good kids here at Milford for a long time, and it makes coaching much easier when you don't have to deal with attitude problems."

While this season will be the first for Spurchise as a varsity basketball coach, he is no stranger to varsity competition, having started the boys soccer program at Milford in 1978, coaching the team ever since.

"I'm excited about the basketball season, but my focus right now is on soccer," Spurchise said. "I think we have a chance to have a very good year in soccer."

The basketball team should be good as well, but Spurchise said for the first time in a long time Milford will have no go-to player.

"We're not going to have the type of player who is going to score 20 points-a-game night in and night out," he said. "We've had that type of player for a long time, but having a bunch of players contribute is going to be good for the team too. I think the players are excited to continue the success."

One of the Milford basketball programs keys to success has been the regular practice of having sophomores play on the varsity.

"Our theory is the junior varsity is a feeder program for the varsity program," Spurchise said. "Winning is nice on the J.V. level, but it's not the most important thing, and Bill and I were always on the same page about that. We have two sophomores coming up this year who may start."

Spurchise said he realizes with the success of the program, there are some expectations which add some more pressure, but that it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up.

"I just love to coach, and I enjoy working with kids no matter what level," he said. "In some respects there is more pressure, but I've been around long enough where I can handle that."

Taking over Spurchise's J.V coaching position will be 1996 Milford graduate Greg Eggleston.