Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Overbrook girls' coach savoring a rare winning season

His smile stood out most of all.

His smile stood out most of all.

Jim Puderbach - veteran coach of nearly 30 years - looked completely wiped out, as if he had just played, rather than coached, four quarters of run-and-gun basketball.

He called his team around him right in front of the bench. He put his arms around a couple of players. And the smile never left his face when he said:

"We're right in this - we're one of the best teams in the Colonial Conference."

The game that had just ended was a two-point loss Tuesday night by Puderbach's Overbrook girls' basketball team to rival Haddonfield.

But Overbrook had trailed by 15 at the break. And the Rams' thrilling second-half effort in front of a sizable home crowd was clearly the story of the game.

Besides, Puderbach was never one to pay attention to wins and losses, anyway.

Most high school coaches say that. Puderbach has lived it his entire career.

He entered this season sporting a 217-382 record in 24 seasons at Overbrook. In just six of those 24 seasons has he finished with a record above .500.

The fact that Overbrook is 15-4, one of the most talented teams in South Jersey, and a serious contender in South Jersey Group 2? Well, that just adds to the fun.

"It's just a blast to be able to really coach during a game. There were years when I went an entire season without calling a quality timeout," said Puderbach, who revels in late- game theatrics. "When you're down 20, all you're really doing is subbing in and hoping you're not going to get beat by 30."

Now he's coaching an athletic and well-rounded team, led by a 6-foot-3 dominant center in transfer Anndrea Lloyd.

Lloyd is averaging 16 points and 11.4 rebounds. She's been the ideal complement to a scrappy group of wing players.

That Rams won a school-record 18 games last season without Lloyd. With her, the team could be the best the program has had.

But when Puderbach talks about Lloyd's success, the first thing he mentions is her progress off the court - how she's working hard, improving in the classroom, forming bonds with her teammates.

"I love it here," said Lloyd, a senior who spent her first three seasons at Lindenwold. "We all get along so well, we all have a lot in common, especially basketball."

"I think [Puderbach] is a really good coach," she added. "He knows a lot, he's funny. He keeps us all going. He makes us confident. And we all think we can do big things this year."

For Puderbach, those bonds are what the last 25 years have been about.

In addition to coaching, he has also taught history at Overbrook for 35 years, a position he'll retire from at the end of this school year.

Asked if he'll give up coaching as well, he hesitated. He's having too much fun to say yes.

And when asked what kept him going through so many lean years, he laughed.

"We are so much about the Lady Rams - we always have been - we are so much about the program," Puderbach said. "It's about the kids, about the bus rides, traveling all over the place - those little things that make us a group. We don't make it about wins and losses, even . I don't want the team to think we lost. I want them to think, 'Hey, we competed like anything against one of the best teams in South Jersey. We were right there - and maybe we get the next one.' "

rallysports@phillynews.com.