Becton Regional High School is proud to welcome Mr. Dan Balaban as the new head coach for varsity boys’ basketball.

Coach Balaban began coaching high school while he was studying at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. His career began as a volunteer assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach at Abraham Clark High School in Roselle. Then he was also a coach for a high level youth basketball program based in East Orange. Most recently, he was the assistant varsity boys’ basketball coach at Rutherford High School for three years.

Basketball has played a tremendous part in Coach Balaban’s life. “I am a life-long student of the game. The lessons I learned through basketball allowed me to reach success in many other avenues of life,” said Mr. Balaban. He coaches in order to teach young people the same lessons and life experience he gained.

Coach Balaban has high hopes for this year’s team. He wants to build up the basketball program here at Becton, and he strives for the players to practice hard and improve each day. He is very confident in the boys this upcoming season.

The basketball team has four pre-seasonal scrimmages in total. The first scrimmage is on December 9, and the first basketball game is on December 19. “I am looking forward to taking positive steps forward every single day,” he said.

During his free time, Coach Balaban enjoys learning new subjects, reading, and training for competitive running events, such as marathons. His favorite sports are basketball and football, and he enjoys the New York Knicks and Rutgers Football. In high school, he participated in varsity basketball.