Danbury's Dick Heller retires after 44 years coaching basketball

DANBURY TWP. — Danbury's Dick Heller is retiring from coaching, the school announced Monday. Heller, who led the Danbury girls basketball team to a 16-7 record and a Division IV sectional championship this past season, coached the Lakers for five seasons. "You always knew how much he cared about the girls and that was the hardest part of him retiring," Danbury athletic director Keith Mora said. "He was extremely passionate. Always tried to put the team in the best position to be successful. He put in some good work here." Heller has 337 career wins and led girls varsity programs at Lakota, Oak Harbor and Danbury. His final 47 wins came with the Lakers. During a successful stretch at Oak Harbor, Heller won 46 straight regular-season games. His 300th career victory came in a Danbury victory over Cardinal Stritch in January 2018. Heller began his career as a coach in 1978 in charge of Lakota's seventh-grade boys. He moved up to the junior varsity level before coaching the varsity girls at Lakota for 12 seasons. Heller, who was an assistant at New Riegel before taking the Danbury job in 2017, coached a total of 44 years. He is the college and career readiness coordinator at Danbury High School. Mora said Heller told his players about his decision on March 18. The girls basketball coaching job will first be posted internally. "I think it's going to be a big job for us," Mora said. "He definitely left us in a good position. It's always easier to find a coach when you have success. I expect we'll have a good pool of candidates."