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Sometimes a team’s fiercest opponents are those you most admire. Such was the case for Prep’s newly hired Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Damian Segura when he competed against the Sundevils during his tenure as head coach at St. Pius X High School.

“Sandia Prep always brought out the best in our team and was always a tough opponent,” he explains.

Segura coached at St. Pius from 2003 to 2019, leading their program to four state championships. One of his assistants, Marcos Rivera, coached with him for 15 years before taking over Prep’s program.

After the 2019 season, Segura decided he was ready for a break and spent the next four years taking a breather and doing other things.

Rivera tried to recruit Segura as an assistant, but he wasn’t ready – until last season. Then, the two reunited as coaches, with Segura focusing on the team’s defensive skills. “I was thrilled to help Coach Rivera last season as an assistant and get to know the Sandia Prep students on a more personal level,” he explains. “The young men were studious, hardworking, and driven to be successful. For a coach, these characteristics make this opportunity very exciting.”

When Rivera stepped down this spring, Segura was ready to take over the program.

His goals are clear: “First, to continue the standard of excellence of the basketball program, both on the court producing competitive strong teams, and off the court by exemplifying the values of the Sandia Prep community,” Segura says.

He looks forward to continuing to work with the Prep players he got to know last year and helping them flourish in all aspects of their development. “Basketball, like most competitive sports, provides the opportunity to teach and build life skills through team participation,” he says. “We want to use these opportunities to develop and grow our young men with lessons that will help them now and later in life.”

(Photo courtesy of The Albuquerque Journal)