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MUSCATINE, Iowa – Muscatine High School turned a possible negative into what it hopes will be a big positive with the naming of Susan (Koering) Orvis as its new varsity girls basketball coach.

Orvis, a former University of Iowa basketball player and a Division I college assistant, was hired to replace Jeff Tank who resigned after 19 years as MHS coach.

After Tank’s resignation following a 3-19 finish the past season, Muscatine High School activities director Tim Goodwin expressed concern that there would not be a teaching position open for a possible replacement. With Orvis’ hiring, however, that no longer is a concern because she will not be a teacher.

“We’ve been here for about a year now, so we’re still getting settled,” said Susan Orvis, who is married to Nate Orvis who works for the Lee Insurance Agency. “This is a great opportunity to do something I really, really enjoy.”

A native of Stanwood, the      34-year-old Orvis was a four-sport standout at Lincoln Community where she was a four-time all-conference player in     basketball in the Mideast Conference. She averaged between 37-43 points a game in high school.

“Being from a small school, I played all the sports,” said Orvis. “Volleyball was my fun sport and I really enjoyed softball, but basketball was always my favorite.

“We had six or seven girls who played all four years together; we were very fortunate to have strong teams across the board. I also enjoyed playing with my twin sister, Amy. She went on to play volleyball in college and now she’s a pharmacist in the Mount Vernon area.”

Despite playing six-player basketball at a small school, Orvis earned a scholarship offer from C. Vivian Stringer at the University of Iowa.

“I started going to the Iowa camp when I was very young, so I got to know the staff,” said Orvis. “When you’re an Iowa kid shooting hoops in the driveway, playing at Iowa is your dream. I was thrilled to have the opportunity (to play there).”

Her career at Iowa, however, didn’t have the storybook start she had hoped for.

“I didn’t play AAU ball because the closest team was three hours away,” she said, “literally, my only 5-on-5 experience was pickup games with the guys, and that’s very different than Vivian Stringer’s system.

“I didn’t have bad (5-player) habits, I just didn’t have any (habits). I had a lot of learning to do.”

Orvis played a little as a freshman, but admittedly she was frustrated because she had to wait it out.

“Later on, and now as a coach, I had an appreciation for a freshman who doesn’t get it and has to wait. It became a benefit later on as I worked myself into the system and eventually became a team captain my senior year. I understand the other side of it, too.”

The biggest transition she found was phasing out six-player rules such as dribble limits and not being able to take the ball away from an opponent.

“But I had enough fundamentals that I could just learn from scratch,” said Orvis.

“I knew I didn’t have the speed or abilities of some of those (other) girls, but for me it was a matter of knowing my role. I was more of a shooter, and that’s what I was in there for.”

With an education major, Orvis student taught at DeWitt under basketball coach Pat Meade and athletic director Dwight Spangler.

Following that, Orvis made an Athletes in Action trip to Australia where her coach was Sue Ramsey of Ashland University, a Division II school in Ohio.

Ramsey talked Orvis into coming with her to Ashland as a graduate assistant. She spent two years there getting her Master’s Degree.

She then landed a job with Dana Eickenberg, who had just been hired as women’s coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“When Vivian left Iowa for Rutgers, Angie Lee (an assistant with the Hawks when Orvis played there) got the job,” Orvis explained. “Angie hired Dana as one of her assistants, and that’s how I met Dana.”

After four years at UMKC, Eickenberg moved on to Southern Illinois and she took Orvis along with her.

“My timing was very good,” said Orvis. “Both jobs were serious rebuilding, but we liked the challenge.”

Their first team at UMKC finished 2-25 and the first one at SIU went   3-24. Eickenberg and Orvis spent four years at each school and they turned each around.

So the 3-19 Muscatine record of a year ago does not scare Orvis.

“I’m excited to walk into a situation where the basketball environment is good,” said Orvis. “Jeff (Tank) was very reputable and well-liked.

“The kids have been treated well and they have been coached, so we won’t have to start from ground zero. I’ll be excited to talk to Jeff and get his perspective, too.”

Muscatine’s cupboard will not be bare. The Muskies graduate just one player (Johnnie Jindrich) and the middle schools reportedly have some outstanding talent.

“I’ve heard great things about the young kids,” said Orvis. “I’m excited to see them and evaluate them; I need to get to know them.”

Orvis says her coaching style starts with defense.

“Defense is where it starts,” she emphasized. “If you can defend, you can get by with a poor offensive night.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to generate good shots and opportunities off our defense, regardless of our (offensive) skill level. We’ll work hard with that.

“Offensively, I have some ideas, but it will be some sort of consistent motion and movement. The kids are not going to stand around, for sure. We’ll move the ball and attack the rim in hopes of creating (scoring) opportunities.”

Much of the credit for Orvis landing in Muscatine belongs to former Muscatine High School standout Jenny (Noll) Furnas.

Furnas, who was Orvis’ teammate and roommate at Iowa, introduced Susan and her future husband. Orvis now wants her friend to be her assistant coach.

According to Goodwin, all that stands in the way of that happening is Furnas obtaining her coaching certificate and approval by the school board.

Goodwin says that landing Orvis and, hopefully Furnas, is a coup for the school.

“We are so excited to bring someone of Susan’s caliber into our girls basketball program. To find a former Division I assistant coach who just so happens to live in Muscatine was something that we could have never dreamed of.

“The young girls in this town should be, and will be, extremely happy with this hire and will have a positive female role model leading our program for years to come.

“She’s a very hot commodity, and I hope the community embraces her.”