Legendary California high school basketball, life coach Hans de Lannoy succumbs to cancer

The 'Pied Piper' of Bay Area coaches was beloved by at least two generations of students and players for being a 'Great coach, a great teacher and a better man'

San Ramon Valley assistant coach Hans de Lannoy died after a seven-year battle with cancer on Feb 5, 2025 / Courtesy photo: De Lannoy family

One of the Bay Area’s most beloved coaches, who had battled and seemingly defeated cancer for approximately seven years, has died. 

Hans de Lannoy, a spirited, upbeat, charismatic leader of high school athletes and the general population, described as a cross between Jim Valvano and Dick Vitale, passed away Wednesday at his San Ramon home. He was 72. 

A longtime head coach of boys and girls basketball, de Lannoy spent his last 10 years assisting, leading and inspiring San Ramon Valley-Danville’s boys team, right up to Friday. 

On Tuesday, slowed by years of demanding brain cancer treatment, de Lannoy, as he was known to do especially on cold, damp game nights, took off the Wolves’ home game with Dublin. When calls weren’t returned Wednesday morning, a caregiver and longtime friend Chris Meredith discovered de Lannoy in his condominium deceased. 

Hans de Lannoy holds up San Ramon Valley's CIF Northern California Division 1 trophy last March / Courtesy photo: San Ramon Valley High School

“There are no words to possibly convey what a powerful, positive force Del was to so, so many, and obviously to us the players and coaches,” San Ramon Valley coach Brian Botteen said. “He cared so deeply about everyone else and never not once complained about his pain or plight. He was utterly selfless. 

“We can only hope that he’s now in a place with no pain, no more knee pads, playing full court basketball which he so loved to do. I’m grateful for every single second I had with my friend. But I am sure going to miss him this evening and for many more after.” 

Botteen and Wolves thought they had lost him in December of 2022, when hospice care took care of de Lannoy just as the team was headed to the Damien Classic in Southern California. The team stopped by his home, largely to pay what they thought might be final respects. 

Instead, after the Wolves, using their bed-ridden coach as inspiration, won the second bracket of the prestigious tournament, and de Lannoy returned to the bench. He received a standing ovation just before SRV’s East Bay Athletic League opener with Dougherty. (See video). 

It was just the beginning.

He was on the bench last March when San Ramon Valley won its third Northern California championship, before losing the state finals at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento to St. John Bosco.  

“It was like we all got bonus time with Hans,” said California-San Ramon head coach Steve Ohlmeyer. “It was like here’s the man who gets the most out of people and it just wasn’t his time yet.” 

Pied Piper of coaches

Ohlmeyer’s first job was an assistant for six seasons under de Lannoy for the Grizzlies in the 1990s: “He sparked a flame and fire under me and every other person and coach he crossed. What an impact he made on so many.

“His greatest strength is that everywhere we went — I’m talking anywhere — we would run into someone he knew and he’d remember their name, their back story, the year they graduated, their family tree, everything about them. 

Hans de Lannoy with Caiifornia coach Steve Ohlmeyer, who first coached together in the 1990s. / Courtesy photo: Ohlmeyer family

“Hans just made everyone feel so special, so important. We called it the Hans effect. He was the  Pied Piper of all coaches. When you were with him, you felt like you were in the presence of a celebrity.”  

He is survived by his sister Monique, brother Marcel and countless throngs of dear friends and admirers, almost all woven around more than two generations of coaching and teaching. 

One of those he taught and coached against was former San Ramon Valley, Stanford and Los Angeles Laker forward Mark Madsen, now the head coach at Cal. Madsen, a 1994 graduate, was on the same campus as de Lannoy, who coached for six seasons at California-San Ramon.

“He always had a positive word for every student, whether they were a basketball player or not,” Madsen said Thursday morning. “He was a beautiful soul. I’ll never forget Hans de Lannoy. He left an impact on thousands upon thousands upon thousands of lives.” 

He coached over six decades and 40 years and was head coach of the Wolves in the 80s, led the girls’ program in the early 2000s and had other stints at defunct Cubberley (his own alma mater), Gunn-Palo Alto and California. 

He amassed 512 wins.

“He could draw up plays like you wouldn’t believe, but he was so much more than X’s and O’s,” Ohlmeyer said. 

That care was universal, said probably the best player he ever coached, former San Ramon Valley and Cal star Eric McDonough, who was inducted into the SRVHS Hall of Fame with de Lannoy in 2019. 

“What an amazing person,” McDonough said. “I was incredibly fortunate to play for him, but even luckier to be his friend for the past 40 years. He meant so much to me, and I already miss him dearly.” 

De Lannoy’s legacy, all agree, will always be his infectious, high-energy, positive personality, revealed in regular commencement speeches on campus. 

Pure love

His keynote bursts at more than 50 school rallies are legendary, none more than the 2013 “Welcome Back” speech primarily to give freshmen a glimpse of what San Ramon Valley would be like during their time on campus. Many of his inspirational speeches are on YouTube.

“It’s pure love with Hans and it always has been,” Botteen told us in 2023. “He’s been a father figure to me and to hundreds upon thousands in the Valley over the years.”

Hans de Lannoy at a 2013 prep rally to start the school year at San Ramon Valley High School / Courtesy photo: San Ramon Valley High School

That was apparent by early Wednesday evening as word spread of his passing. De Lannoy’s Facebook page, boasting the platform’s maximum of 4,999 friends, was filled with dense, deep passages, one after another after another, spreading appreciation, love and heartache for a man who went by ‘D,’ ‘Del’ and ‘Coach.’ 

"How privileged we all were to be alive at the same time as this man," wrote Karey Roda Ronnow, a student of de Lannoy who is now a teacher. "This man was a living legend, a paragon of virtue and patience, an angel on earth.

"I had no idea that back in 1995, my life would be instantly changed when I walked into his class. It didn’t matter who you were; you were his friend. He made you feel appreciated and loved when you walked through those gym doors."

Ronnow shared a story when she was a 15-year-old freshman helping to teach a 60-student swimming unit, and de Lannoy gave her the courage to do it.

"That week changed my life," she wrote. "I never knew I was capable of leading a group of people before that, let alone teaching. But he knew. He saw something in me that I didn’t know existed. He must have known that 10 years later I’d be teaching my own PE class. I’ve now been teaching for 20 years. ... What an inspiration. What a guide. What a mentor."

Pep talk from Del

Wrote Dan Kaiser: “Rest in peace Hans de Lannoy. You were a great coach. A great teacher and a better man. This world is a lesser place without you.”

Lauren Bordalampe called de Lannoy the most amazing man, coach, mentor and friend you could ever know. I’m so lucky to have grown up in the Wolfpack community knowing the legend of Del. He taught us all so many lessons and filled our hearts with love. A safe space for a lot of us. Nothing made you feel better more than a pep talk from Del.” 

Hans de Lannoy coined the phrase Home of Champions opposed to School of Champions, noting the "home" implies forever, a long-lasting effect rather than four years in school. / Courtesy photo: San Ramon Valley High School

Christine Osterhout posted a picture of a smiling de Lannoy with a young person looking in need of some support: “I will always remember you like this: A life dedicated to lifting us all up. A life dedicated to making sure we all felt loved and important and included and like a rockstar in your presence. … You were an absolute legendary teacher and human.” 

Melissa Popovich Coffey, a star soccer and track star at San Ramon Valley in the 90s, described him to a friend as "A real time Jimmy V. I have never met another person who impacted as many other individuals as Hans. And he remained generation-proof. His style and impact was applicable whether he taught you in the 80s or today."

Wrote Corey Rivers: “If you knew this man, then you are feeling the loss. Some people are born with the purpose of making the world a better place, and this man was one of them. He changed so many lives and made everyone feel important. Rest in paradise coach. We love you!” 

10 minutes with Hans de Lannoy

He made San Ramon Valley senior guard Mason Thomas feel particularly important, Botteen said. And that was particularly important to a very shy ninth-grader entering the program. 

Botteen gathered the team Wednesday after practice and delivered the somber news. The team spent more than an hour sharing de Lannoy’s impact and Thomas told his. 

Hans de Lannoy (derby hat, glasses) and head coach Brian Botteen (right) were on the bench bright and early for an opening game of the De La Salle MLK Classic on Jan. 20. / Photo: Dennis Lee

“There were a lot of tears, but we also got to some laughter,” Botteen said. “(Thomas) said he was painfully shy and that Hans noticed and immediately made him feel welcomed. (Thomas) said he suddenly felt comfortable being in the gym, and that led him to be a very good, fearless player, a two-year starter. 

“The thing is, well beyond basketball, if you spent 10 minutes with Hans de Lannoy, you’d learn how to be a kind and positive person. You spend day after day with him and imagine the mark he left in those terms. 

“If we could all just take a little of Hans and apply it, how much better this world would be.” 

Plans for a celebration of de Lannoy’s life are in the works and might require “an arena like the Chase Center,” Botteen said half-joking. He will be honored either before or halftime of San Ramon Valley’s EBAL home finale against cross-town rival Monte Vista. The Mustangs’ starting point guard is Meredith’s son Brady Meredith.