Saint Mary’s High hires Chris Toler as girls basketball coach

Saint Mary’s High has hired Chris Toler as its varsity girls basketball coach, athletic director Greg Kelly confirmed Friday.

Toler was an assistant for Panthers boys basketball this past two seasons, a boys head coach at Rodriguez-Fairfield in 2012 and an assistant with the Napa Valley College women’s team in between.

“I got presented with this opportunity, thought about it for a brief moment and kind of jumped at it,” Toler said of taking the Saint Mary’s girls gig. “They have a great program, have a great tradition — hopefully we can continue that and keep it going. I know they’re a talented bunch.”

Saint Mary’s went 18-14 and reached the North Coast Section Division 4 semifinals under interim coach Samuel Sims, whose time as an assistant under previous coach Nate Fripp included all five of the programs’ NCS titles.

“We’re very excited that our committee was able to identify Coach Toler as a great fit for Saint Mary’s,” Kelly said. “He’s very focused on building community, building positive relationships with the students, focusing on the importance of athletes being students first. He coached for our freshman boys team and just did a tremendous job. The students really responded to him.”

In his only other year at the helm of a program, Toler led the Rodriguez boys to a 15-12 record and a berth in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 playoffs.

“My time at Rodriguez didn’t end like I wanted it to, so I sat out a year,” Toler said. “I got the itch — well, I never lost the itch. I was given an opportunity at Napa Valley College, that opened my eyes up … and got me back into the swing of things.”

Toler, who was the JV boys coach at Rodriguez from 2008-11, played prep hoops in Memphis, Tennessee and opted for the U.S. Air Force rather than NCAA Division II or III basketball, according to Kelly. Toler served eight years in the Air Force and currently is a fire captain in the Contra Costa Fire Protection District.