Keith Luberto has had quite the life, from his upbringing in Long Island to becoming the founding athletic director for Providence School in Santa Barbara.
That life can now be explored in his latest memoir titled Coaching Under Fire.
In Luberto’s own words, the book is “my story of growing up in the suburbs of Long Island in the 1960s and 70s, falling in love with the game of basketball in 8th grade, working hard to become an all-star, but throwing it all away with habitual drug and alcohol abuse.
“The second half of the book is my Road to Redemption as I leaned into faith and family as I battled addiction, cancer, job losses, and the challenges of coaching high school basketball.”
Luberto finds his way to Santa Barbara on his “Road to Redemption,” where he takes over the athletic department of what was formerly known as Providence Hall.
“Most were not athletes, so I knew I had to be creative or I’d be out of a job,” Luberto said. “The first three years, we treated our sports programs as club teams, and invited students who were not enrolled in our school to play.
“One SB varsity coach even passed out our flyers to kids he had to cut from his basketball team, and several played with us.”
After having just 27 kids at the inception of the school in 2007, Luberto led the girls basketball team to a CIF championship in just its fourth year.
“By our fourth year, we had enough athletes enrolled and we joined the CIF, and had immediate success,” Luberto said. “Once we were invited to the Monday SB Roundtable, I knew we were in the club.”
Those interested in purchasing Coaching Under Fire can click here.
