A Long Island basketball coach is a finalist for the Junior Knicks Coach of the Year award, for his work with a youth league that welcomes children of all abilities and aims to keep players off the streets.
John Rueb, 50, of Brentwood, has been coaching basketball for 18 years. In 2010, he helped create the Brentwood Basketball Developmental League to give girls, including those with disabilities, the opportunity to play basketball.
Since then, the league, which serves children up to age 14, has grown from 25 girls to nearly 200 boys and girls. About 20 percent of the league’s players have some kind of disability, Rueb said.