In nine years coaching basketball at Boys’ Latin, Cliff Rees was able to take the program to a higher level with a disciplined, competitive spirit that quickly became a fixture with his teams.
On Thursday, Rees announced that he was stepping down from the post, wanting to spend more time with his family and work. He compiled a 173-91 mark, helping the team make a successful jump to the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference after leading the Lakers to the B Conference championship in the 2013-14 season.
More success followed in the Baltimore area’s most challenging league. In the 2017-18 season, the Lakers enjoyed a 25-7 breakthrough campaign that earned him The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro co-Coach of the Year honors. The Lakers then went a program-best 30-6 the following year.
With Boys’ Latin opting out of playing this season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rees felt now was the time to step down. On Monday, he handed in his resignation to Boys’ Latin athletic director Michael Thomas. It wasn’t easy.
“I’m going to miss the kids, the school and the coaching fraternity. It’s been an unbelievable experience for me — that’s for sure,” he said.
“The things we’ve done the last [nine years] are things I never could have imagined going in. And, of course, it takes having great kids and great players to have that success, which obviously we had.”
Rees enjoyed a four-year playing career at the Naval Academy, playing alongside NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson in the 1980′s, and later served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps. He has three sons — Matt, Casey and Spencer — that all attended Boys’ Latin and followed in his footsteps in the Naval Academy with each playing lacrosse. Spencer, the youngest, is a senior and will start in goal for the Midshipmen this season.
With limited experience — Rees only coached youth travel basketball — he was surprised Thomas gave him a chance when he was hired in 2011.
Thomas didn’t see it as taking a chance.
“I knew him as being a dad with the three boys and he was always involved with their sports at BL, so I had formed a relationship with him before I was seeking a new coach,” Thomas said. “I knew about his military background and that resonated with me. There was a toughness and grit that I loved about him — and I wanted him to bring that to the program and he did.
“He had extremely high expectations and he was demanding on the boys, but he loved them. People always saw the animation on the sideline, but they also saw the love he had for the boys at all times. He’s just a special coach and when he offered his resignation the other day, it was definitely a sad day for our basketball program.”
Along with savoring all the relationships he formed, including a bond with BL’s legendary coach Hugh “Snuffy” Gelston, and spending time on a campus he described as “his happy place,” Rees is proud of what the program was able to accomplish during his watch.
“Getting the B Conference championship for the school for the first time in 20-plus years is a big thrill,” he said. “And the jump to the A Conference was unexpected, never really planned and … to be able to be competitive and make the championship game the one year and just compete with the best teams in the area night in and night out was another thrill. It’s something I’ll always cherish.”
The program’s foundation started with the basics.
“Cliff did a great job at BL. His teams were always fundamentally sound, they played with a lot of competitive spirit and they had some good seasons for sure once he got things into place,” Mount Saint Joseph coach Pat Clatchey said. “I’m sorry to see him go. Obviously, you want as many good coaches in the league as possible and he certainly was one.”
Rees, a Sykesville resident who serves as vice president in the field services at Hughes Network Services in Germantown, and his wife, Suzie, are looking forward to watching Spencer’s senior lacrosse season at Navy as well as spending more time with their two older sons. To get in the gym on occasion, he also plans to assist his brother Brad, who is head coach of the McDonogh girls basketball team.
“The last couple years I knew I didn’t have much time left to coach just because there’s so much with my work life, my personal life with my kids getting older and all in the Navy and spread out all over the place. So it was kind of time,” Rees said.
“I can’t help but continue to think about the kids I coached and being able to watch them grow into young men. I still stay in touch with so many of those guys and the things they are accomplishing is pretty special.”