Athletic director Scott Rivinius announced Sept. 27 that guidance counselor Robert Bean and special education teacher Kevin Vactor were chosen as the new head coaches of varsity and JV boys basketball, respectively.

According to Rivinius, former girls JV assistant and CHS teacher Ellen Marshall will replace Vactor as girls JV head coach.

Both men have past basketball coaching experience that factored into Rivinius’ selection. Bean was a boys varsity assistant coach at Magruder for six seasons, and Vactor previously coached both boys JV at Einstein and CHS girls JV last season.

“Magruder is one of the most respected programs in the county, and coach Bean had very strong recommendations from coaches in the area,” Rivinius said. “Both coach Bean and Vactor interviewed very well and bring excellent experience, energy and enthusiasm to the basketball program.”

The coaching positions were filled after previous varsity coach Matt Miller resigned from the team Sept. 12 along with JV head coach Mike Lovitt, varsity assistant coach Nic Mast and JV assistant Kevin Doherty.

According to Vactor, he pursued the position because of his desire to give back to the community.

“I used to play for Kennedy, and I wanted to give back to the county,” Vactor said.

According to Bean, it is “too early to tell” what aspects of Miller’s program will be changed, discarded or continued.

“My focus right now is the month of October,” Bean said. “I’m planning our strength and conditioning program as we speak. Coach Miller had this component in place, so in a sense, it will be a continuation of the former program with a little coach Bean flare added.”

So far players have responded positively to Bean’s selection. Senior Allen Njumbe is one of many who is excited to see what the new coach has to offer.

“The team as a whole is eager to see what Mr. Bean has in store for us in terms of a new system,” Njumbe said. “A lot of us are familiar with him already, so we are pretty comfortable with him.”

Bean’s selection as varsity head coach fulfilled one of his long-time goals to become both a high school counselor and basketball coach.

“I am extremely fortunate that the basketball position opened up at the school that I’m working in and that I was selected as coach Miller’s replacement,” Bean said.

According to Njumbe, Bean’s time at Magruder has made the team confident in their chances.

He knows what it takes to win,” Njumbe said.

For the new coaching staff, the process of building up the program may involve many difficulties along the way.

“We’re a new program with Bean, and we’re starting something new,” Vactor said. “Will it be easy? No. But we’re just trying to get guys to believe in the program.”

Though it is currently difficult to predict how the season will fare for the Bulldogs, the athletic department is hopeful that the team will find success.

According to Rivinius, he believes in the team’s ability to have a successful season based on a history of wins and three straight years of division titles.