Welcome back, Mike Garman.

The 1999-2000 Lancaster-Lebanon League girls’ basketball Coach of the Year, who resigned his post with Ephrata after the 2000-01 season, will be back on the bench coaching the Mountaineers this season, the New Era has learned.

Garman, who spent the last three seasons as a volunteer assistant for the Ephrata boys’ varsity team under head coach Dave Dubbs, replaces Loren Souder, who stepped down earlier this spring after three years on the Mounts’ bench.

The Mounts went 24-44 under Souder’s watch, including an 8-15 mark last season.

Garman was the girls’ coach at Ephrata for six seasons, and he won L-L League Coach of the Year honors after the 99-00 season after leading the Mounts to an 18-8 record, including an 11-3 mark in Section 1.

Garman, a Hempfield grad, has also coached for the boys’ programs at McCaskey, Cocalico and Lancaster Catholic, and he was an assistant coach for Millersville University, where he was also the men’s interim head coach for the 1982-83 season.

Garman is set to retire as a sales manager for Burns Veterinarian Supply in mid-July, and said he’d have more time now to concentrate on coaching.

There are now three coaching vacancies in L-L League basketball circles: Cocalico is set to name a girls’ coach to replace Abbie Houck, while Donegal and Elco are in the market for boys’ coaches – Dell Jackson stepped down at Donegal, and Craig Coletti recently left Elco to replace Paul Blackburn at Lebanon.

JEFFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com