End of an era: Portland St. Patrick girls basketball's Al Schrauben retires after decorated run
Al Schrauben had spent a few seasons as a varsity football assistant at Portland St. Patrick and had envisioned potentially leading the program one day.
But things took him in a different direction when the school was in need of someone to lead its girls basketball program.
St. Patrick had a few options of potential coaches for the football program, but that wasn't the case for girls basketball.
So that's when Schrauben stepped in.
"I had watched a great deal of our girls games and I felt pretty comfortable going in that direction," Schrauben said.
That decision proved to be a good one as it set in motion one of the most decorated careers by a varsity girls basketball coach in Michigan history.
And a career spanning four decades that included numerous wins and titles has come to an end with Schrauben deciding to retire.
"I knew at the beginning of the year that I thought I knew this would be it," Schrauben said. "When you finally get down to it, you have to say the words. It was pretty tough, but I was still comfortable with (my decision)."
Schrauben guided the Shamrocks to a 21-3 mark and a CMAC title in his final season. He finished his career as one of four girls basketball coaches in state history with at least 700 victories and never had a losing season.
Schrauben ends his career with a 729-208 record and third all-time in wins according to the Michigan High School Athletic Association's online records. The only girls basketball coaches with more wins are Sandusky's Al DeMott (838) and former Detroit Country Day coach Frank Orlando (797).
"His (success) is a lot harder than people think," St. Patrick athletic director Pat Russman said. "His philosophies and his systems and his willingness to fit into the players had — I just didn't expect him to lose very much because I just knew how good he was and the kids always loved playing for him. He's winning a couple of battles there right out of the gate.
"In my mind I know that he's still one of the best basketball coaches of any gender in the state. I think he could do that again next year if he wanted to."
St. Patrick won six state titles during Schrauben's tenure, finishing on top in Class D in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2002. But it was the first of his five state runner-up finishes in 1988 that Schrauben said was one of his favorite memories of his coaching career.
"It was totally unexpected and after that I think I relaxed a little bit and enjoyed the wins a lot more than I did previous to that," Schrauben said.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Girls basketball: Portland St. Patrick's Al Schrauben retires
