Harvard-Westlake appoints Alex Nailes as interim girls basketball coach

Boys basketball assistant coach at Harvard-Westlake has named Alex Nailes for the post of girls basketball coach to serve the next 2024-25 season. 
 
The school will conduct another search for a permanent girls basketball coach once the current 2024-25 season is over. 
 
“As it is known, the Harvard-Westlake hiring a program head is a schoolwide process,” said Terry Barnum, the head of athletics. “We had a lot of responses for our girls basketball program head position and our applicant pool was very good There is however a problem with timing because given this position opened up mid summer we did not feel we could complete the interview process and give our new coach the best chance of success this season. ” 
 
‘That is why we have recommended that Dave Rebibo should act as our girls basketball program head in the interim and that Alex Nailes should act in as the interim varsity girls basketball coach for the up coming season. 
 
Girls basketball coach Melissa Hearlihy stepped down in early August after 39 years of coaching, and 22 years at Harvard-Westlake. Organised by the California Interscholastic Federation, the Wolverines clinched the CIF State Division II title in March. 
 
Earlier in the school year, Hearlihy announced that she would retire at the end of the year and the school has been trying to find someone replace her. SBLive frantically assembled a list of potential candidate SoCal coaches that could take over but apparently the search never offered the school a favorable candidate. 
 
Thus, step in Nailes and with boys basketball head coach David Rebibo head school basketball program. 
 
“I am glad for the opportunity to apply for the position of the girls basketball interim head coach” Said Alex Nailes. “I’ve been a supporter from the stands of these athletes for years and I’m extremely grateful to be part of this team of talented young women and athletes, thank you Terry Barnum, the athletic department and coach Rebibo for this opportunity. ” 
 
Nailes has equally been coaching in the boys’ basketball programme as an assistant coach since 2022. He has taken part in basketball at Lincoln University of Missouri for four years ; he was awarded bachelors’ degrees in business marketing & computer science. Nailes had coached basketball at Redondo Union, Verbum Dei and Windward, before joining the Harvard-Westlake boys basketball team coaching staff which won two CIF State Open Division state championships in the last two years. 
 
He is, for the moment, attending the master’s degree course at Grand Canyon University in Sports Business.