State Championship Coach Tim Richert Named Boys Basketball Coach at Freedom High School

The veteran coach and former record-setting shooter returns to the sidelines after nearly six years away from coaching.

Tim Richert, who won a high school basketball state championship in Wisconsin, has returned to coaching as the new court leader at Freedom High School in Orlando, Florida. | Tim Richert

ORLANDO -- Tim Richert, who won a state championship as a coach in Wisconsin, has been named boys basketball coach at Orlando's Freedom High School.

"I'm really excited about it and it's a great opportunity,'' said Richert, 53. "I can't wait to get started. I met with the players (Wednesday) and we've got some good, young talent coming back that I'm excited about working with and I'm looking forward to running a camp for some of our feeder schools this summer.''

Freedom Lands Veteran Coach

Richert replaces Moe Goshani, who resigned after leading Freedom to a 14-11 record last season in his only year at the school.

"I had talked to Freedom about the job when I first moved down here,'' Richert said. "But that was during COVID and the timing just wasn't right. Then, about a month ago, I got a call from (Freedom athletic director Bobby Prego) saying the job was open and he asked if I would be interested. This time, the timing was right.''

Championship Success in Wisconsin

Aside from a one-year coaching stop at Family Christian Center in Clermont, Fla., Richert had been out of coaching since moving from Wisconsin to Florida nearly six years ago. Richert's last stop in Wisconsin was at Living World Lutheran School in Jackson.

But Richert enjoyed his most success while leading Young Coggs Williams Prep High School in Milwaukee for five seasons. During that span, Richert's teams went 90-33 and won the Division 5 state title in 2015 with Gary Richert serving as an assistant. Tim Richert also served as the school's athletic director. Richert also spent time as an assistant at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, where his father, Gary, and older brother, Brian, also coached.

A Florida Basketball Family

The family moved again before Tim’s senior season. In the 1980s, Gary Richert was the head coach at Division II Saint Leo University, outside Tampa. Brian and brother, Brad, played for their father at Saint Leo. In those days, a young Tim was often seen shooting baskets at halftime of Saint Leo games.

Following His Father Into Coaching

Tim Richert started his high school career at nearby Pasco High in Dade City, where Brad and Brian had starred. But Tim Richert left Pasco after his freshman year to follow his father, who took over as coach at St. Petersburg Catholic High School after leaving Saint Leo. There, Tim Richert blossomed as a player. He set a then-Florida high school record with 134 3-point field goals in a season.

But the Richerts were on the move again, as Tim entered his senior year of high school. Gary Richert took a job in Wisconsin, where he previously had coaching success as a high school basketball and football coach. Tim enrolled at New Berlin West High and set a school record for points in a season in 1991-92, while also setting a school record for three-point shots made.

After graduation, Richert enrolled at Waukesha County Technical College, where Brian was the head coach. At Waukesha, Richert set a then-national junior college record with 200 three-point goals made in the 1993-94 season. From there, Richert briefly enrolled at NAIA Hawaii Pacific, but let after getting homesick and returned to Wisconsin, where he, once again, played for his father. Gary Richert had returned to college coaching at Division III Carroll College in Waukesha.

Tim Richert then started his coaching career at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy, where Brian was coaching and the fieldhouse is named after Gary. Brian coached at several Wisconsin high schools and recently retired after a successful stint at Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wis.

"It's kind of ironic that Brian retired and I'm getting back into it,'' said Richert, who also will continue to work as a client experience specialist at the Orlando law firm of Morgan & Morgan.

A Full-Circle Moment

Gary Richert retired from coaching more than a decade ago and moved with his wife, Nancy, to Winter Park, an Orlando suburb.

"I guess our family has come full circle and I'm as excited about it as Tim is,'' Gary Richert said. "It will be nice to have a Richert coaching in Florida again.''

Photo 1: Coach Tim Richert celebrates with Youngs Coggs Williams Prep High School after winning the Wisconsin Division 5 state championship in 2015.

Photo 2: Coach Tim Richert, standing, with father, Gary (seated), as an assistant coach during the 2015 Wisconsin Division 5 state championship game.

Photo 3: Freedom High poster announcing hiring of boys basketball coach Tim Richert.

All photos courtesy of Tim Richert.