Jake Szczecina has played countless roles throughout his basketball career.

Each one has provided the Panther Valley graduate with a sense of pride, perspective and purpose.

The next will be no different.

After a decorated playing career at Misericordia University, and a stint as a volunteer assistant at East Stroudsburg University, Szczecina’s next stop will be as a graduate assistant at VCU.

It’s one that continues the Summit Hill native’s dream, and carries on a Coal Region connection under head coach and former Mahanoy Area standout Mike Rhoades.

“He’s a local guy, born and raised in Mahanoy City,” said Szczecina. “I’ve heard great things about him as a player; he was a heck of a player at Mahanoy and then at Lebanon Valley College. And as he transitioned into coaching, and whether or not he knew it, he was always someone I looked up to as a Division 3 player who made it at the highest level, winning in the NCAA Tournament and coaching in Division 1. He’s definitely someone that I always looked up to.”

In 16 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Rhoades has produced a 324-171 record, a winning percentage of .655. At Lebanon Valley College, Rhoades won a national title in 1994.

While Rhoades was named the 12th head coach in VCU history on March 21, 2017, and has led the Rams to two NCAA Tournament appearances out of the Atlantic 10 Conference during his tenure, Szczecina’s interest started after his playing career ended in the spring of 2018.

“I was watching the March Madness games around that time, and I started to think, ‘I think I want to get into coaching. I need to get back in the game.’

“In the spring of 2019, I started to think about it and made the decision that I want to get into this thing. After looking at jobs and pursuing opportunities, I was offered to come on at East Stroudsburg as a volunteer where I spent the last two years, and worked for a great boss there in Jeff Wilson. He was fantastic.”

Szczecina helped the Warriors to a 20-9 overall record and 15-7 mark in conference play in 2019-20, as they finished second in the PSAC East and made their 11th-straight trip to the conference tournament. ESU posted a 10-game win streak spanning Jan. 29 to March 4, which marked the 15th double-digit win streak in program history.

“I thought I knew so much about basketball until I got on the coaching side, and learned pretty quickly I didn’t know anything,” Szczecina said with a laugh. “Coach Wilson taught me so much in two years. He spent so much time developing me as a young coach and teaching me so much about the game, and he was huge in helping me land the GA spot at VCU.”

Szczecina previously spent three seasons as a volunteer assistant coach with his alma mater, Panther Valley High School. He’s also worked camps at Georgetown University, Butler University and the Coach Wootten Basketball Camp.

The bonds that he made at Panther Valley and with head coach Pat Crampsie have helped guide him along the way.

“Coach Crampsie and I have had a relationship since I was in middle school,” said Szczecina. “In fifth and sixth grade, I was the manager for the varsity team, in seventh and eighth grade I played, and then ninth-through-12th I was on the team.

“That’s actually how I got my start in coaching when I got to Misericordia. I was driving home to some of the games and sitting on the bench and he let me do scouting reports and things like that. He kind of let me get my feet wet in coaching and now we stay in touch.

“He was the first person that called me when I got this job. I talked to Coach Rhoades around 10:30 in the morning, and I think at 10:45 Coach Crampsie called me. We have a great relationship. I’ve kind of been with him here for the last decade-plus in different roles.”

He’s maintained those relationships with a number of area coaches.

“And when I was at East Stroudsburg, I did some recruiting, so I was constantly on the phone with some of the local high school coaches; John Patton at Marian, Jimmy Barron at Tamaqua; Jason McElmoyle at Jim Thorpe,” he said. “So just trying to keep those relationships, because I know how much I value Coal Region and Schuylkill League basketball, so the fact that I can stay in touch with those guys and have a personal relationship with them is very important to me.”

At Misericordia University, he was a four-time Scholar-Athlete Award winner and helped lead his team to three MAC Freedom Championships and NCAA Tournament Berths.

Szczecina graduated from Misericordia University in 2018 with a degree in business administration and pre-physical therapy, and achieved his master’s degree in exercise science while at ESU.

At VCU, Szczecina will be enrolled in the Center for Sport Leadership program, a 10-course program that will stretch out over two years and include courses on NCAA compliance, NCAA coaching and rules and regulations as he continues his coaching career.

“You’re there to assist the coaching staff in all the aspects of running a college basketball program,” he said. “If that’s helping out with administrative work, or helping out the video coordinator with developing edits, or creating different kinds of graphics to promote the program, or it might be the nitty-gritty stuff.

“You might be wiping up sweat, you might be filling up water bottles, you might be doing laundry. Pretty much anything that I can do to assist the coaching staff and serve the players of the program.”

VCU is currently in the midst of eight weeks of summer workouts, which will be followed by a break in August, before the season ramps up in the fall with practices starting in October and games beginning in November.

It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. And one Szczecina is ready for.

“My long-term goal is to become a Division 1 head coach,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a lofty goal; there are only 350-odd Division 1 coaches in the country, so it’s a lofty goal, but Coach Wilson gave me the foundation the last two years just teaching me so much about the game, and how to treat people, and I’m just trying to take that to VCU and provide some value, be as valuable as I can.

“But most importantly, I want to learn from the opportunity ... using both the CSL program and this great coaching staff at VCU and just work hard, add some value and learn so much along the way. I’m really excited to get started. I’ve been working here for about a week, and I’ve already learned so much about the inner-workings of a Division 1 basketball program, and I’m hoping that as I get accustomed, I can continue to add some value and bring something to the table for these guys.”