Former Palos Verdes Varsity basketball coach, Brian Edelman, passed away after a long, grueling four-year battle with cancer.
Edelman was very well respected and a beacon of light in the Sea King community. His positivity was relentless, even when life gave him the worst.
Edelman led the Sea Kings to many historic seasons, most notably a CIF semifinal appearance in 2019 where he was acknowledged as the Daily Breeze Coach of the Year.
This is the same year when doctors discovered that he had colon cancer. He was only 33 years old.
If there is one thing Edelman is not, it’s a quitter. He proceeded to coach the Varsity team until the 2022-2023 season, when he decided to step down due to his health conditions.
Previous head coach Greg Clark stepped in to coach in place of Edelman. Clark’s favorite moment with Edelman came in the 2014 season.
“My favorite moment with Brian was when we beat Peninsula for the first time in my first season as head coach,” Clark said.
“We really had made it our mission to snap that streak and while the program had some rough years early on that let us know we were on the right track.”
Shortly before the 2022-2023 season, former player Blake Goldstein took on the role of being the head coach of the JV basketball team.
“I saw the impact that Brian had on my life and my teammates’ lives, and he was a huge motivation in deciding to come back,” Goldstein said.
“He helped introduce me to high school basketball and showed me what it meant to be a player at the next level. He had faith in me as a coach and as a player and always made me feel heard.”
The B.E.lieve (Brian Edelman) foundation was a GoFundMe fundraiser which started to raise money to help his fight.
The foundation raised over 50,000 dollars of generous donors all across Southern California.
During the 2022-2023 basketball season, there was a B.E.lieve game against PV’s rival Peninsula, where shirts were given to the spectators and students.
Edelman was told to come to this game, but was not told why.
The crowd was a sea of red with T-shirts that read “B.Elieve” across the chest to show support for Edelman and his situation.
Outside of school Edelman also coached for the PV Cagers, a developmental basketball program for grades K-8 that helps prepare young basketball players for high school basketball.
Coach Edelman was not only a coach, but also a husband. He married his wife Meggan Edelman in August 2022 and they focused on his health and their relationship.
The two were able to celebrate their one year anniversary together shortly before he passed.
“Brian never wanted anyone to know how truly sick he was or that he was in pain, especially in the end,” Meggan Edelman said.
“He never wanted to hurt anyone. Brian always went out of his way to make others feel good and take care of them. Even though he was sick, he made sure to always take care of me and make me feel loved along with his family and friends. Brian fought this battle for four years and two months. We had our ups and downs. Our victories and our defeats,” Meggan Edelman said.
“He always lived life to the fullest and never let cancer stop him from living his best life. Brian is a warrior and he fought his hardest until the very end. His big, loving heart was so strong. We all need to be like Brian.”
