Feb 4, 2025 4 min read

By John Sacco

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

They are two of the humblest guys one can encounter.

Make no mistake, however, Ron Faust and Skip Koskoski are basketball royalty in Washington County.

These kings of the court are being honored again as both have been elected to the Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s Hall of Fame Legends Division.

Faust, longtime coach at his alma mater, Washington High School, and Koskoski, a standout player at Ringgold High School and Robert Morris, will join an impressive list of players and a coach in being inducted to the Hall of Fame March 2.

The Class of 2024 will be honored at a brunch at Montour Heights Country Club.

“I’m very proud of it but at the same time, a lot of people don’t get the opportunity because they didn’t have the players or they weren’t in the situation to do so,” Faust said. “I admire so much the coaches who never in their lifetime won a section title but they still go in there every day and do what’s right. They work hard to make young people better. I was fortunate in my career to have a lot of good players.”

After coaching 36 seasons – two stints – at Wash High, Faust’s career record is 651-240 (.731). It was 518-192 from 1981-2009 and 133-48 from 2014-2022.

He is the winningest basketball coach in Wash High history. His accomplishments include 22 section titles, 29 playoff appearances, four WPIAL titles (1984, 1985,1986 and 1990) and two PIAA championships (1984 and 1986).

Also, between 1984 and 1985 the Little Prexie basketball team reeled off a then-WPIAL record 52 consecutive wins.

Over the course of his career, Faust has been awarded the Dapper Dan Basketball Coach of the Year on two occasions and was the Class AA Pennsylvania Coach of the Year in 1984. In 1985, Faust coached the Pennsylvania team against the United States team in the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic.

He has been a seven-time winner of the Washington-Greene County Coach of the Year Award and he was the Observer-Reporter Sports Headliner in 1986.

Faust and Koskoski are both members of the Washington-Greene County Sports Hall of Fame. Faust is also a member of the WPIAL Hall of Fame.

Koskoski was a star center and pitcher at Ringgold, helping the Rams’ basketball team win a section championship and advance to the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA state tournament his senior season.

On the mound, he won 18 of 20 decisions with an ERA under 1.00, which included striking out 20 of 22 batters in a seven-inning, one-hit shutout of Belle Vernon.

“Wow, to be mentioned with Ron Faust, he’s a legendary name,” Koskoski said. “Overall, it’s a pretty healthy list of inductees. That’s for sure.

“It’s obviously meaningful. I wasn’t a scorer. But it is rewarding that others saw my rebounding, passing and ability to bring the ball up the court. To be honored this way means people appreciated my play.”

At RMU, Koskoski helped the Colonials win consecutive basketball conference championships with the program’s first NCAA tournament appearances in 1981-82 and 1982-83. A four-year letterwinner, Koskoski finished with a school record 608 rebounds. He finished with 93 starts in 118 career games while shooting 54.4 percent from the floor with 50 blocks.

He also coached basketball with six teams for 23 years, which included 13 years as an assistant under three coaches at PennWest California and head coaching stints with Ringgold’s girls and the Charleroi boys.

Faust and Koskoski are in good company.

Some of the others being inducted are Duquesne’s Norm Nixon, Tom Cvitkovic, Lonnie McClain and Sid Dambrot; Darryl Shepherd, Jerome Lane, Eugene Cercone and Darrell Gissendaner of Pitt; Farrell’s Jim McCoy (Marquette) and Julius McCoy (Michigan State); Anthony Dickens of Robert Morris and Mike Iuzzolino of St. Francis.

Also being honored is former Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot and the 1976-77 Duquesne Dukes and the 1982-83 Sto-Rox Vikings. Vince Sortino of the WPIAL and game official Randy Miller will be inducted,

“With those names, that’s basketball royalty,” Faust said. “I’m really humbled by the fact that I’m even included on that list.”