He watches as his son and daughters practice shooting the basketball through hoop in his driveway. He walks outside and starts playing along with them, challenging them to a little three on one. Laughing as the little kids try to get the ball past him, he can’t help but smile at their efforts. He corrects their form every once and a while and gives them pointers, but mostly he lets them dribble and fake him out. His love for the game of basketball shows and he is glad that he can share his love and knowledge of the game with his children.
Corby Laube has announced that he is going to be taking the new girl’s basketball coaching job today. He had a lot of reasons for making this decision. “Well, I guess I do have a passion for coaching and the love for the game of basketball, too,” he said. Laube has been at Marion all his career so when he had the opportunity to coach again, he jumped on it. Laube when he first started working at Marion, worked as an assistant girls basketball coach for his first two years then was moved to coaching for the boys basketball team. He continued to coach the boys varsity team as the head coach for the next nine years. Laube can’t wait to start coaching again, but the question being asked is if he can do both jobs?
Laube has been working as the Athletic Director here at Marion for a while now and will continue to be it as he coaches the girl’s basketball team. “I’m very excited. If I’m going to be doing this, then I’m going to do this 100%. I can’t wait to tell the girls and get started on the basketball part of it all,” he said, “Hopefully [everyone is] excited. I think people that know me will be excited. Not that I will do something amazing, but that I care about the girls.” Many people are excited to have him as the new coach, but are wondering if Laube will be able to handle juggling these two demanding jobs, but Laube has the confidence in himself that he can do it because if he knew that he still couldn’t give the attention each program here at Marion needed then he wouldn’t do it. He believes that with the help of Mr. Semler and Mr. Zrudsky as well as help from his very supportive family that he will be able to do these two jobs to his best ability.
The girls basketball team has gotten a lot of new coaches in these past years and Laube hopes that a familiar face will help make this new transition smoother. “I think it is going to go well. First and formost I want to build a program that girls want to go out for. Something they are proud of,” he said. He wants to teach the girls more than just basketball. He wants to teach them about class, a strong work ethic, and sportsmanship as well as fun. “[I want them to know] that I will give them no slack, but that I care for them,” he said. He believes that creating that balance between fun and hard work is what will get these girls to the next level, which he hopes to get to.
Laube has many hopes for this new upcoming season. “I think the main things are establishing a system and program from elementary and up and to build a program that is consistent. I think these current girls want to be at the top of the conference,” he said, which he also hopes to strive for. He believes that if the girls work really hard and give him 100% like he will be giving them that they can have a great season. He said, “They’re not going to like me at times, but they should know that I care about them.” He wants to be a coach that the girls will say, “he was on my butt about everything I did, but it made me better and I know it was just because he cared that much.” Laube is in this for the long run and can’t wait to get started
