Huber's winding road brought him to Ashtabula County as coach, administrator

“We never lost a league game in two years,” said Huber, who will be inducted into the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame as a coach April 12. The Pymatuning Valley Lakers, whom Huber coached at various levels from 2000-2009, had never had quite that degree of success. But the Lakers made the Ohio regionals twice, once when Bob Hitchcock was a player and once when he coached PV.

“As a coach, we had such an incredible fan base at Pymatuning Valley,” Huber said. “You would walk out of the locker room and the entire side of the bleachers would be filled from the floor to the rafters. ” Huber had learned the game of basketball from coach John Miller at Blackhawk and, later at Geneva College from coach Jeff Santarseiro, where he received a partial basketball scholarship and proved himself by earning Academic All-American status as a junior.

“We learned that preparation and that targeted practice breeds success,” Huber said of his high school days. “We learned man-to-man defense, to run the floor, and to control the basketball in the half-court. At Geneva, I learned to shoot the three effectively and play match-up zones on defense.

“ When he graduated from Geneva College, Huber found a connection that brought him his first job. “Basketball brought me to Ashtabula County,” he said. “One of our assistant coaches from Blackhawk High School, Jeff Meddock, became principal at Pymatuning Valley High, and he encouraged me to apply for a teaching position.