Strand retiring after 23 years as Aquinas’ coach

After 23 years as St. Thomas Aquinas’ basketball coach and 42 years on the boys basketball and football coaching staffs, Steve Strand is ready to move on.

The longtime coach told the Sun Sentinel on Wednesday that he is retiring.

“Sometimes it’s just time,” Strand said. “You just know. Had a great group of kids, great administration over all these years. … It’s just time.”

Over two stints and 23 years as the Raiders’ coach, Strand went 385-186. He won St. Thomas’ first — and only — boys basketball title in 2001 and won nine district championships. But the title is only one of many memories Strand said he will think of when looking back on his career.

“First thing that comes to mind is the kids’ smiles on signing day, when they get a chance to go play in college,” Strand said. “The state championship was great, too.”

Strand, who graduated from St. Thomas in 1976 and played for the Raiders’ 1975 state runner-up team, will continue working at the school as the facilities director.

Strand and the Raiders had a disappointing season this year, going 10-12 and missing out on the district tournament, but he thinks whoever takes over the program will inherit a good system.

“We have a good thing going,” Strand said.

Strand retired once previously, stepping down before the 2014-15 season. But after successor Bryan White stepped down after one year, Strand stepped back into the position. In the four seasons since, he went 43-42.

“The game is a little more nontraditional, being [like the NBA’s Golden State Warriors] — shoot the ball, three-pointers all over the place,” Strand said. “Compared to inside-out, which it was when I was growing up and when I coached through the mid-2000s, the game has changed a little bit.”

Strand said he hopes the people he interacted with as coach think of him as a positive influence on their lives.

“I hope that they were a better person for having known me, for sure,” Strand said. “That they became better husbands, fathers, sons, all that good stuff, brothers, uncles for having been through the process of school here and the program.”