Ryan Krawczeniuk ‘couldn’t be more excited’ to be Cardinal O’Hara’s boys’ basketball coach

Ryan Krawczeniuk saw the potential.

While attending a Cardinal O’Hara boys’ basketball game, Krawczeniuk was watching Aasim “Flash” Burton, who played on Krawczeniuk’s AAU team, the East Coast Power. He noticed how invested the Lions community was in the basketball program and started to envision the team’s potential.

Now that vision is one he’ll look to bring to life as he takes over as O’Hara’s coach.

“I think it’s a sleeping giant over there,” said Krawczeniuk. “A lot of people want to be invested, a lot of people want to see that program be restored. Everything has really come into place on this one and I couldn’t be more excited.”

Krawczeniuk was announced as coach last Thursday. The Wilkes-Barre native replaces Fran O’Hanlon, the longtime Lafayette coach who stepped into an unexpected role in leading the program last season after intending to assist Mike Richards, who stepped down last June shortly after taking the job.

O’Hara was a state playoff team in 2022-23. It finished last season 9-13 overall and 4-10 in the Catholic League.

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Krawczeniuk aims to bring stability to the position. “It’s a similar situation to what I stepped into at East Coast Power,” he said. “That was essentially a total rebuild and a chance for me to really put my stamp on that program. The stars have aligned perfectly here at O’Hara. In some ways it’s a similar situation that I’m stepping into but one that I’m comfortable in.”

He was a standout at Meyers High School in the Wilkes-Barre area. A 2018 graduate of East Stroudsburg, Krawczeniuk counts Warriors coach Jeff Wilson as a top mentor.

After his playing career came to a close, Krawczeniuk had a stint as an assistant at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa., and spent two years assisting at Marywood University in Scranton before he joined ECP in King of Prussia.

“I’ve been surrounded by great people from Day One, starting with my father, he was a great coach and still is back home,” Krawczeniuk said. “There’s no way I would be where I am without all of those people. ... . I’ve always had a road map on how to be a great coach and how to run a program because I’ve been in it my whole life.”

Krawczeniuk plans to have the team play in the Philly Live event during the June live period and potentially a few one-off team events if it’s a good fit, he said. For the most part, he expects to use the offseason to lean on internal building.

“The first couple months, for me, are about establishing a culture and bringing in the right people to be around myself and these kids,” Krawczeniuk said. “With Flash being there, I had my eye on the program, so I’m very familiar with the returners. There’s a lot of good pieces and a lot of talent for us to start.”

Next season, O’Hara will be up against some of the top players in the nation who compete in the PCL. But being in a packed gym for a Friday night game, Krawczeniuk said, is the environment he wants to be in.

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“It’s one of the most competitive and high-level basketball leagues you will find in the country,” he added. “The tradition speaks for itself. You can go down the list of coaches in the PCL and they’ve had great success.

“The competition of this league is something I really look forward to. It’s something that’s in my DNA, that tough competitor, and we want to be in those situations in the PCL.”

Krawczeniuk complimented athletic director Chrissie Doogan, who’s also the school’s girls’ basketball coach, saying it’s a tremendous opportunity to share the same gym as a state championship program.

“I’ve heard from tons of alumni and people who care deeply about that program,” Krawczeniuk said. “That’s something extremely important to this program moving forward: We need to get our alumni excited and the community excited about O’Hara basketball again.

“I saw them get behind the girls’ program during their playoff run, I saw what it could be, they’re just waiting for a reason to come out and support. That’s our goal, to give them a reason to come out.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.