coaching staff

COACH GARY RATH - FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR

Gary Rath started the AZ Stangs club program in 2010 and has been its director ever since.

He is currently the Sunrise Mountain High School Varsity Boys’ Basketball Head Coach. He has led the boys since 2015 and has over 100 wins and 1 final four appearance. He has coached 4 college basketball players since taking over the program.

Before becoming the boy’s coach at SMHS, Rath was the Head Girls Varsity Basketball Coach at Sunrise from 1998-2009. He led the girl’s program to over 175 wins, 2 final fours and 3 region championships. He also coached 8 college players, as well as being named region coach of the year 3 times. Rath was known as one of the top girl’s coaches in the state during this time.

After being the girl’s coach for over 10 years, he moved over to the boys as the Varsity Assistant Coach for a couple of seasons under Jason Pasinski, before eventually taking over as the head coach.

Coach Rath has been coaching at Sunrise since the school opened, coaching various sports such as: Freshmen Football, JV Football, JV Softball, Varsity Tennis (Boys and Girls), Freshman Girls’ Basketball, JV Girls’ Basketball, Varsity Girls’ Basketball and Varsity Boys’ Basketball.

Gary graduated from Oak Grove High School in Fargo, North Dakota in 1987 and was a 3-year varsity basketball player. He has his Bachelors Degree in K-12 P.E. from Moorhead State University in Minnesota. He has his Masters Degree in Education from NAU. He currently lives in Peoria, AZ and teaches Physical Education at Sunrise Mountain. He has four kids (Brady 27, Branum 23, Braden 21, Shauna 21). He has been married since 1991 to his high school sweetheart Shanon Rath.

To contact:

Phone- (623)-694-4156

Email- grath@pusd11.net

Boys Coaches:

COACH DAVID SCOTT
Coach Scott has been coaching youth sports since 1988. He played high school basketball for nationally ranked Chester High School in Pennsylvania, one of the most feared schools in the state. His first coaching job came during the summer of 1988 when he was only 18 years old. He loves to develop kids and build the physical and mental toughness it takes to succeed on and off the court. Coach Scott is a graduate of Indiana University of PA with a degree in business administration. While attending college, he won 2 intramural league championships. Coach Scott is also Head Freshman coach at Sunrise Mountain and been on staff since 2015. He joined the AZ Mustangs coaching staff in 2014.

I'm currently teaching 5th grade at Parkridge Elementary School in the PUSD district. This is my 5th year there and 15th overall as a teacher. I've taught third, fifth, and sixth grades in my career. I've also had opportunities to substitute teach and volunteer in a variety of elementary classes over the years. I'm also currently the boys' basketball coach for Parkridge and I just finished my third year coaching. I've had opportunities over the past 15 plus years to coach and volunteer for multiple other elementary sports. I'm excited for this first year of coaching for the AZ Stangs in order to make me a better coach overall. I appreciate the opportunity to work with elementary and middle school students/athletes in a positive way.

AZ STANGS BASKETBALL