Gateway’s Travis James, the county’s longest tenured high school boys’ basketball coach in Osceola County, has stepped down.
James, who came to Gateway in 2006 and just finished his 10th year in the dual role of basketball coach and Athletics Director, was informed this week that he would have to decide between the two positions to align with a county rule that head coaches could not also serve as the school’s AD.
Although the rule has been in place for several years, a few coaches – most notably James and former Osceola wrestling coaches Rick Tribit and Jim Bird – were grandfathered in and permitted to hold both positions.
As that number dwindled, James said he was informed a few weeks ago that the “grandfather clause” was being eliminated and that he would have to choose one position or the other. James decided to step down as coach and retain the Athletic Director’s position.
“Obviously I felt I was able to handle both positions as I had never had any complaints from my bosses, but it is what it is,” James said. “Ideally I would have preferred to remain in both roles, but unfortunately I did not have that option.”
Brought in as an assistant under the legendary Bob Baker, James took over as head coach when Baker retired. James’ GHS coaching record stands at 139-110, including two regional tournament appearances (2021-22). The Panthers won 15 or more games four times including 18-win seasons in 2018 and 2022.
“It’s a loss for both the county and for high school basketball,” rival coach at Osceola Steve Mason said. “He’s an outstanding coach that always did things the right way. The thing is, even in the years when he didn’t have a ton of talent, you were always going to be in a dogfight with them. From years of watching, I can tell you two things, Gateway was always going to be prepared to play and was always going to fight to the end.”
In his first action as strictly AD, James announced he was hiring former Cypress Creek head coach Joe Roy to take over the basketball program. Roy went to Cypress Creek as an assistant in 2015 and served as head coach from 2020-22.
He moved to West Orange as an assistant (2022-24) and spent last season as an assistant coach at Foundation Academy, helping that team to the state tournament.
“I remember coaching against Joe at Cypress Creek and remembered how disciplined they played. I always admired his coaching style and I believe he is the type of coach that can be successful at Gateway,” James said.
“Coach Baker and Travis established a great tradition at Gateway and my main goal is to continue to build off of what they created,” Roy said.
