B-C’s Kotarsky was late bloomer
After overcoming a childhood disease, Rich Kotarsky developed into a classic late bloomer on the basketball court.
“I didn’t start playing basketball until I was a sophomore in high school,” Kotarsky reported. “I had a childhood disease called ‘Bright’s Disease’ and I couldn’t play any sports. I got the clearance to play sports during my sophomore year, and then I just practiced and practiced, trying to learn the game of basketball. I put a lot of time in and I played some as a junior and then played a lot my senior year.”
The hard work and practice paid off, as the 6-4 Kotarsky developed into a fine player at Beth-Center High School in the early 1960s.
As a junior in a reserve role, he tallied 91 points as the Bulldogs finished with a 12-11 record. In 1962-63, as a senior, Kotarsky scored 341 points for an average of 16.2.
The Bulldogs posted a record of 15-6 and just missed winning the Section 10 title. Brownsville beat them 56-39 to win the section, as Kotarsky (under the weather with the flu) was limited to four points. It was the first section crown for Brownsville in 32 years.
“That night against Brownsville, three of us were suffering with the flu,” Kotarsky lamented. “Three of us were in the nurse’s office drinking gallons of orange juice and we were sicker than dogs that night. I think I scored the first two points and then got another two, but we had one guard and a forward that were very sick. It is what it is; the Lord works in mysterious ways. We had the opportunity to win it, but unfortunately it just wasn’t in the cards.”
After all that Kotarsky had gone through personally in overcoming Bright’s disease, the senior campaign was very rewarding.
“I spent a lot of time my sophomore year shooting 50 to 100 shots on each side every day,” he recalled. “Then my junior year, and then in the summer, I practiced every day for hours. For whatever reason I didn’t like basketball and I was a football guy basically. What happened was I fell in love with the game and I decided if I’m going to do this I’m going to do it right and I worked hard and I was productive my senior year and I got honorable mention All-State.
“It was rewarding, even though we lost and I was disappointed. I put in a lot of time and effort and we had a good team and it was just unfortunate that we couldn’t win the section.”
Kotarsky has fond memories of his Beth-Center teammates.
“Les Midla and I are still good friends,” Kotarsky offered. “We go back a long ways, Les is a dentist in Beallsville, and we just had a reunion a couple of years back and got together with some of the old teammates. It was great.”
Former Beth-Center coach Vince Sonson played a big role in Kotarsky’s development as player.
“He was great,” Kotarsky said. “He was very demanding and he knew the game, He treated you like his son. He would take us to his house for dinner. He was just a great guy. He was as competitive a coach as I had. He was like Bobby Knight at times; he was very volatile, but at other times he could be very gentle, and, from our era you learned to respect people like that. You learned to respect people that tell you that you are doing wrong and need straightened out, and he was able to do that and when you needed a hug he could hold you and support you.”
Kotarsky also marvels at some of the great talent that he faced in high school.
“There was a guy named Jerry Meadows from South Union and then there was Kenny Goldsmith from Fairchance-Georges; he was outstanding,” Kotarsky remembered. “Another outstanding player was Chuck Kelley from Brownsville, every school had one or two players that you remember, but Goldsmith and Meadows were formidable and they were fun to play against.”
Kotarsky graduated from Beth-Center in 1963 and was pursued by several colleges.
“Different schools were looking at me,” he recalled. “What happened with Cal State was an amazing thing. This guy came to school one day from Cal State. He was a young coach. He took me in a room and said, ‘I’ll make you an All-American if you come to Cal State.’ He was a new coach and they have no winning tradition, but he said if you come we are going to build a winning tradition. This school is going to prosper.
“I went home after school and my Dad, who was a coal miner said that I had a visitor today, a coach from Cal State. Dad said that he said some things, and I said, ‘The bottom line, Dad, is did you believe him?’ He said, ‘Yes’, and that is how I wound up at Cal State. That was my first experience with Cal State coach Myles Witchey. He was a character. He reminded me of my high school coach. He was very intense and had a great passion for the game.”
Cal State basketball fortunes were on the upswing. The Vulcans posted records of 9-10 in 1963-64, 12-11 in 1964-65, 16-8 in 1965-66, and, in Kotarsky’s senior season in 1966-67, the Vulcans won the Pennsylvania Conference West Division and lost to Cheyney State in the PSAC championship game, 84-57.
“We went up against Cheyney State. They had Tom Washington and Hal Booker. They were a great basketball team,” Kotarsky stated. “They beat us; they just flat out beat us. We started the program’s winning tradition and it prospered after that. We had some very good players; one of the better players was Pat Hobart. He was very good, and we had Frank Pilsitz. He was also very good.”
The 6-7, 165-pound Kotarsky finished his career with 1,067 points at Cal State, and when he graduated in 1967, that was No. 4 on the Vulcan’s all-time scoring list, he is now number 27 on that list.
He was a PSAC First-Team All-West selection as a senior.
“I wouldn’t trade my time at Cal State for anything in the world,” Kotarsky said. “It was a small campus, and we had two great chancellors who supported athletics. We were the first team to play in Hamer Hall.
“Cal U just played their final game at Hamer Hall and I was there. What was remarkable was seven of my teammates were back for the game.”
Kotarsky went on to a 36-year teaching career before retiring in 2003.
He was a longtime basketball official on all levels from high school to NCAA Division I. He worked state finals and numerous conference and regional tournaments as a collegiate basketball official. He retired from officiating college basketball in 2010 and is in his final year umpiring college softball.
He is Coordinator of Men’s Basketball Officials for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Association for the 2010-2011-basketball season. In addition he is the Western Assigner for the Collegiate Softball Umpires Association, Rules and Mechanics Interpreter for the Collegiate Officials Association, and the PIAA District Seven Softball Interpreter.
Kotarsky, 66, resides in Mount Lebanon, with his wife Mary. They have been married for 31 years. Mary and Rich have one daughter, Kara. She is a full time graduate student at Marymount University.
“Sports were a big part of my life,” Kotarsky stated. “I met a lot of great people, and it gave me some great opportunities. I still run three basketball camps. I’m still influencing young people. It’s rewarding.”