San Jose, CA – Following a storied career that spans 30 years, Patrick Schneider has announced his retirement as head varsity basketball coach at Bellarmine College Preparatory. Coach Schneider informed his players of his decision during a team meeting the afternoon of April 6.
With a record of 534-312 and finishing his career as the winningest basketball coach in Bellarmine College Prep and WCAL history, Coach Schneider built a program based on the values of defensive intensity, crisp execution, and team unity expressed in the guiding principle of “Team Together.”
“I will always be grateful for the opportunity to coach at Bellarmine,” said Coach Schneider. “It was an honor to represent the school for all these years. Competing in the WCAL has been a privilege, one that has required my best effort day in and day out. And now, after 30 seasons, I’ve emptied the tank. Our players, basketball program, and school deserve someone with the energy to drive the program forward.”
“Patrick Schneider truly put Bellarmine basketball on the map,” stated Chris Meyercord, Bellarmine College Prep president. “He made us into a perennial contender in what most would concede is the most competitive league in Northern California. Under his guidance, we captured 14 CCS Championships and reached the CCS Open Title game five out of the last seven years. More importantly, Patrick cared even more deeply about character than about wins and losses, and the quality of young men he coached is further evidence of his excellence as a coach of a Jesuit high school.”
The numerous highlights of Coach Schneider’s impressive career with the Bells include 21 CCS Title Game appearances, winning six WCAL Championships, and qualifying for 21 NorCal tournaments. He has twice been honored by the San Jose Mercury News as Coach of the Year, in 1998 and 2017.
“No coach has done more to promote the essential elements of character-building and ethics than Patrick Schneider,” noted Steve Filios, former head basketball coach at St. Francis High School and former CCS assistant commissioner. “In his three decades serving as basketball coach at Bellarmine College Prep, Patrick has modelled and instilled the core principles: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and good citizenship in coaching his student-athletes. A true man of integrity, and admired colleague, Patrick has also provided leadership and promoted camaraderie with his fellow coaches in the WCAL, the CCS, and the CIF. I cannot thank him enough for the contributions he has provided to our sport, our student-athletes, and to me personally.”
“As a coach and educator, Patrick is always prepared,” noted Kristina Luscher, Bellarmine principal. “Over the course of his coaching career, he has spent countless hours planning to ensure that time is not wasted at practices and to ensure that they are prepared for the teams they face on the court.”
Coach Schneider also credits his wife, Kathleen, and their three children, acknowledging that the family has built their lives around Bellarmine basketball. “They gave up a lot for me and the program and our players, and I am so grateful for their love and support.”
Although stepping off the basketball court, Coach Schneider will continue his full-time position as a Bellarmine faculty member in the Religious Studies department. “BCP is so special as a Jesuit Catholic school committed to Gospel values and educating the whole person,” he said. “The Jesuits and my faculty colleagues have always been supportive of me and the entire program.”
“I have enjoyed watching our Bellarmine Bells’ basketball teams over the 30 years that Patrick Schneider has coached the Varsity,” said Bellarmine Chancellor Fr. Jerry Wade, S.J. “A special memory for me was Bellarmine’s first-ever CCS Basketball Championship, the night when the Bells beat St. Ignatius College Prep at the San Jose State Event Center in 1993, with Patrick Schneider in his second year at the helm. My gratitude to Coach Schneider, and I am pleased that he will continue as an important faculty member of our Religious Studies Department.”
Bellarmine is grateful to Coach Schneider and this year’s coaching staff of Alex Sarrett, Alfred Duncan, Vince Charlton, Anthony Saso, Jerome Facione, and Dave Frandsen for their dedication to student-athletes and to the program.
An open search for the next varsity basketball coach will begin shortly.