Catching Up With: Paul Orris

Tony Altobelli

The sound of the squeaky shoes, ear-shattering whistles and the

always-unusual scents of boys locker rooms were replaced by fresh air,

fresh fish and loads of quality rest and relaxation. Such was the summer

of now-former Corona del Mar High boys basketball coach Paul Orris.

“For the first time in 31 years, I finally had a summer vacation,”

Orris said proudly. “I went up to Alaska with my brother-in-law and

brought home about 160 pounds of salmon from our fishing trips. It’s such

a beautiful area. I can’t wait to go back again.”

Now with time on his hands, Orris can think about more trips around

the country, but for now, it’s back to school to teach mathematics and

geometry.

“I’m also still involved in CdM athletics,” Orris said. “I’m still the

timekeeper for CdM football games and I’m active in other sports as

well.”

Of course, most people recognize Orris on the basketball courts, where

he was the Sea Kings’ skipper for 31 seasons, including 16 with the

freshman team.

Orris, the Newport-Mesa District career victories leader, was 229-199

in 15 varsity seasons, including CIF Southern Section Division IV-AA

championships in 1992-93 and 1994-95. His teams won three league titles

and were section runners-up in their division three times.

“I’ll miss practicing with the kids,” Orris said. “Doing the drills,

four-on-four and five-on-five drills, those are the things I’ll miss the

most. But I thought at that point in my life it was time to step down and

have someone new, with new energy and new ideas come in here and make a

difference.”

Despite the fact that it’s football season, this was a time of great

headaches for Orris while as a coach. “This time of year, I’d be trying

to figure out who would be coaching the lower levels,” he said. “I’d be

wondering who my varsity assistants would be, I’d be up at 3 a.m.

wondering if we were going to have enough sophomores for the sophomore

team. All that fun stuff, I won’t miss.”

Replacing Orris is Ryan Curry, who made the trip from Nevada Union

High in Northern California, down to Southern California and Orris is

excited to see the “new guy” succeed.

“He’s a real good guy,” Orris said. “He works well with the guys and

from what I’ve seen, he seems to have the same level of temper as I do. I

have the feeling he’s going to be on the scene at CdM for a long, long

time.”

Although he’s only been out of the sport for six months, Orris has

already been thrown coaching offers, but he’s tossing them back, like a

bad Alaskan salmon, if there is such a thing.

“I’ve had all sorts of offers, from coaching seventh-grade girls on

up,” Orris said. “So far, I’ve resisted them all.”

Will the CdM fans still get to see Orris at games? Sure, but don’t

expect to see the towel around his shoulder any time soon. “I still love

the game very much and I’m very interested to see the progress of these

players,” Orris said.

In the immediate future for Orris? “I’ll be going to Illinois at the

end of October and from there, I’m not sure,” Orris said. “I’ve got my

first Christmas vacation coming up, so I’ve got to figure out what to do

then, too.”