Cleveland High gets new girls hoops coach

RIO RANCHO — Cleveland High School has a new girls basketball coach, the third in school history.

Stacy Pokorski, a 2001 graduate of La Cueva High School and the daughter of former University of New Mexico basketball player (1972-75) and former Eldorado High School boys basketball coach (1979-83) Rich Pokorski, was named April 23 to succeed Susan Kubala.

“(My dad’s) had a huge influence on me,” Pokorski, a standout in her days at LCHS, said. “He taught me the game of basketball and I absolutely love it because of him. Him being a ref (after Rich Pokorski’s days at Eldorado) helped me from a different angle, and now that he’s moved back into Albuquerque, he occasionally will come out and support me and give me his feedback, and I hope that continues while I’m out there in this position as well.”

Pokorski served as a dedicated language arts and P.E. teacher at Desert Ridge Middle School for 19 years, where she was also the head boys basketball coach. She also previously served as the varsity girls assistant basketball coach at La Cueva High School and the girls C-team and junior varsity basketball coach at Eldorado High School.

The selection committee thought Pokorski's extensive background in education and athletics uniquely positioned her to lead the girls basketball program at CHS, where she will also teach P.E.

“Coach Pokorski has proven herself to be an effective and successful coach over a career spanning more than 20 years,” said Todd Resch, RRPS executive director of athletics and a former administrator at La Cueva. “We are thrilled to welcome her to Rio Rancho Public Schools and are anxious to watch her help our Lady Storm grow to new heights.”

Pokorski has a list of to-do’s for her new job.

"I’m hoping to reach out to the administration and plan a time to get out there and meet the girls, and hopefully, get a commitment from some of them to enter a few tournaments this summer, and for me to get a little feeling for who they are,” she said. “And then doing some open gyms over the summer to get to know them a little more, and then hit the ground running in August with the basketball class.”

She said she is hopeful of starting a Junior Storm kids’ camp, too.

Pokorski said she has one requirement for her players, “that they play hard and give their best effort at all times and have a good attitude.”

“Stacy will do an awesome job,” said Rio Rancho High School girls coach Lori Mabrey, who was an assistant at RRHS when Pokorski’s Bears beat the Rams in the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons. “She’s been a great longtime assistant, something that is long overlooked. … I am super-excited it is another female coach in our district.”

Pokorski is the third female to coach the Storm girls: Felecia Boatman was the first coach when the school opened in 2009, and she coached the Storm for five seasons before Susan Kubala assumed the reins for 10 seasons (2014-24), going 131-140 in that span.

Kubala resigned her coaching position last month after injury-riddled CHS went 14-16 overall and 4-4 in its District 1-5A games; the 2023-24 season ended with a 75-47 first-round state tournament loss at district champ Volcano Vista.

Resch said the other finalists were Elmer Chavez, Adam Huff, Isaiah Valdez and Martin Apodaca, Kubala's assistant.