Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Prep Basketball:

Silverado grads return to lead program

Silverado Skyhawks coaches

Heather Cory

Three Silverado girls’ basketball coaches — from left, Joyce Misa, Amanda Verba and Jessica Sudario — pose for a portrait. Now the Skyhawks’ assistant varsity coach, junior varsity coach and freshmen coach, respectively, all three played for the Silverado program.

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There's something about the Silverado girls' basketball program that keeps people coming back.

Despite opening in its doors in 1994, Silverado has already begun to build the loyal alumni base normally associated with long-standing schools like Basic and Rancho. Nowhere is that demonstrated better than in the girls basketball program where three coaches are all former players.

Joyce Misa, the assistant varsity coach, has been with the program for seven years. Her sister, Jessica Sudario, has been the freshman team head coach for five years and Amanda Verba, the junior varsity head coach, is now in her third season.

All three coaches saw time at point guard in their days with Silverado and all three said it felt right to return to the program.

"The basketball team was always like a family when I was here," said Verba, a 1999 graduate. "(Former long-time coach Diane) Hernandez did a lot to keep the program family-oriented and make all the players feel like we wanted to be here. When I got the chance to come back here I took it."

Misa, a 1997 graduate, agreed that her return was spurred by Hernandez who helped her stay involved with the sport after playing in college at Cal-State Fullerton.

"I always wanted to keep basketball in my life and in coming back to Silverado it was like nothing had changed," Misa said. "Coach Hernandez was a big influence on me and you can still see her stamp on the program today."

Silverado head coach Kelli Matthews, who replaced the retired Hernandez this winter, said the loyalty the former 'Hawks show to the program is a testament to the work Hernandez put in for more than a decade.

"This really is a tribute to Diane and it's something I kind of walked into," Matthews said. "These three coaches are products of Diane's system, which is the same style I run, so it's great for me knowing that the girls are getting coached the same way at every level."

Matthews credited all three coaches as being fundamentally sound and able to introduce the young athletes to the finer points of important technique work.

While Misa and Verba had a few years between leaving the school and their first years as coaches, Sudario had the unique opportunity to coach the first season after her graduation.

"I wasn't sure about coming back because I was so young but coach Hernandez asked so I said I would," said Sudario, a 2003 graduate. "It was weird to be on the sideline after being on that court for so long. It was hard at that age because I still wanted to get on the court and play and I had to force myself to step back and let them learn."

Misa said the change from player to coach was eye-opening and she tries to incorporate that new perspective into her coaching.

"When I first started coaching it really showed me a lot I didn't see before," Misa said. "It made me wish when I was playing that I knew what I know now — I would have been that much better. So, I try to come from that perspective when I talk to the girls. Maybe some of them will go on to be the next coaches."

Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or [email protected].

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