Rio Grande hires Ish Loya to coach its boys basketball program
May 7—Ish Loya likes to think of himself as a man who's gained much currency from the many mentors in his coaching career.
For the first time, that career includes this title:
Head coach.
Rio Grande High School has hired Loya, a former Valley Viking, to take over its boys basketball program.
"Super excited," said Loya, 39 and a 2003 graduate of Valley. "It's a goal I've had for a long time. I'm very competitive. (Basketball) has been a big part of my life."
Loya most recently was an associate head coach at Northern New Mexico College in Española. He certainly is familiar with the Ravens program, as Valley and Rio Grande are frequent rivals.
The Ravens are coming off a 6-19 season.
"I'm super excited to get started," Loya said. "I know, it's been a rough couple of years there, but I feel we can go in and build something there for sure."
Loya also spent a handful of seasons coaching at Sandia for both Danny Brown and Alvin Broussard. He also played and coached briefly in Mexico.
"We need to get kids in the gym," Loya said. He'll be a contract coach, as he has a job with the City of Albuquerque. "My model, the way I do things, is we gotta work, we gotta be in the gym, we gotta be in the weight room. We have to go in and get the fundamentals down, and have a workman's mentality culture."
Loya said he has previously applied, and been a finalist, for coaching jobs at Santa Fe High and Bernalillo, and felt those interview processes were of assistance as he tossed his name in the hat at Rio Grande.
And now, he gets to put his fingerprint on his own program, with assists from the men in his life he's worked for. That includes the coach he played for at Valley, Joe Coleman.
"I've been blessed to be with some great coaching staffs," Loya said, adding that Rio Grande is eager to enhance its program. "I know what it is, I know what it can be, and the administration is hungry for success."
