03/19/2025
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
I have stepped down as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Cleveland High School. I have very much enjoyed my eight years leading this program. As difficult as it will be to let go of the best coaching job in Portland, my decision has been carefully considered with my ‘ohana.
I am very proud of what our program has accomplished in the last eight years. We made the OSAA 6A Playoffs six out of a possible seven seasons. In my first season we won a play-in game to become the first PIL school to qualify for the 6A playoffs without an automatic berth. We also advanced to the second round of the playoffs at the end of the 2021-22 season with a historic win against #9 Mountainside, the best finish in Oregon’s highest classification in school history. We finished third in the PIL twice, the highest place Cleveland has achieved in the modern era of the PIL. One could argue we have been the best community based, homegrown program in the city for much of the last eight seasons.
None of these accomplishments and triumphs were about me. I have been lucky to have had the support of the PIL Athletic Office, two ADs and three principals at Cleveland who had my back. Nothing is accomplished without the backing of so many parents and the greater Cleveland community, a consistently excellent cast of assistant coaches, and some of the best players on my rosters that have ever graced the court, and the hallways, of Cleveland High School. Finally, I have been blessed to have shared this journey with my ‘ohana in so many ways. Three daughters played in the program, and my wife has been an essential part of our success in so many ways from the very beginning. MAHALO! It has been the honor of my life to have led this program the last eight years.
GO WARRIORS!
“Coach Po”
Poeko Kelii Waiwaiole