Creek’s Vandenlangenberg retires from coaching

A Lincoln Parish coaching staple is entering a new chapter in his life.

Gene Vandenlangenberg, the longtime coach of the Cedar Creek girls basketball team, told school administrators and his team his intentions to retire last week and told the Ruston Daily Leader he’s contemplated the decision over the last year.

“It’s been a real blessing to coach those girls,” Vandenlangenberg said. “I’m still going to be there with them and encouraging them and supporting them. It’s going to be different watching them from a different part of the gym, but I’ll still be around.”

Vandenlangenberg coached the Lady Cougars from 1993-96 and then back again in 2015-23 and racked up 288 wins in his tenure.

Creek went 22-8 this season and was named District 2-1A co-champions with Ouachita Christian, finishing the year in the Division IV Select quarterfinals.

In the last eight years under Vandenlangenberg, Creek made the playoffs every single season and made the program’s first state championship game appearance in 2022.

“I don’t ever think there’s an exact right time, but I think my wife and I want to have a little more time for family,” Vandenlangenberg said. “But think about this, I’ve been at Creek for 35 years. That’s a lot of giving up holidays and missing stuff and so we want to have the time.”

Vandenlangenberg’s legacy won’t just be felt at Cedar Creek.

Just ask Ryan Bond.

Bond, Ruston High School boys basketball coach, played under Vandenlangenberg in his time at Weston High School and still appreciates all his former coach has meant to him.

“There’s no way I would be where I’m at without Coach Van coming to Weston. There’s no way,” Bond said. “His influence and guidance. I’m at a loss for words. His impact on me, you can’t measure.”

Bond first met Vandenlangenberg when he was 14, in ninth grade, and remembers the new head coach setting a high standard early for Weston. And it’s that level of play that stuck with Bond and carried over into his own coaching experience.

“He’s still a mentor; someone that I lean on, and he’s been so positive with me and helping me get here,” Bond said.

But the impact doesn’t just find itself in fellow coaches.

In fact, one example is just up the road in one of the best players he developed, current Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters forward Anna Larr Roberson.

The Ruston native lettered four years at Creek and was a four- time first-team All-District selection as she helped lead the Lady Cougars to district titles and playoff appearances.

In a statement to the Leader on the retirement of her former coach, Roberson said, “Coach Van is an amazing person and coach! To have the chance to play for him was such an honor. Coach Van not only pushed us to be great in basketball but also in life! So thankful I got the opportunity to play for him!”

Sarah Adams, a fellow former Lady Cougar, reflected on Coach Van's impact in her life.

"He always did a fantastic job of making sure that everyone felt appreciated, was involved, and enjoyed playing the game of basketball," Adams told the Leader. "He always emphasized teamwork and trust. If he hadn’t have installed those belief systems into every new generation of players, Cedar Creek never would have built the legacy for winning that it has today."

Vandenlangenberg, 59, plans to still teach at Cedar Creek and still feels young at heart and energized for what’s next and how he can continue to give back to his second home.

“Cedar Creek’s like home to me,” Vandenlangenberg said. “That’s how I feel about it. This is where basically my whole adult life has been at Cedar Creek. My wife and two sons have been a part of that too.”