Changes…
The Universe is a fascinating place, for sure. Some people believe that nothing happens randomly, but that there is a force out there gives us what we really want. It may not be exactly what you thought it would be, but all of your actions led right to it. And when you look back you often think, well I got what I deserved. Most people call this force “destiny”, and I am one of the believers, I must admit. Right after my first season of competition with Wyoming, I was telling myself that I would work harder than ever to become the kind of player that Coach Strannigan would have to rely on the next season. I had done enough to think I could play NCAA D1 basketball, I just needed to be smarter.
Destiny had other plans, however. As soon as I had made my decision to be a coach rather than a lawyer, my whole perspective began to change, followed by the next set of events in my basketball life. When I started in college, I felt like the legal profession was where I wanted to go- then into politics, but I had no real picture in my mind of what that was like. It’s like walking in the dark- you know where you want to go, but you hit or step on unseen stuff along the way. When my epiphany about coaching struck me, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and could see myself doing it. When it becomes that clear, then things begin to happen to make it real. Those are followed by your actions. I got a phone call right after the season from a friend of mine, Dave Brunkal, a guy who was playing at an NAIA school in Oregon called Linfield College. He loved his coach, Ted Wilson, and mentioned that the coach ran a basketball camp in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon in the summer called Perry’s Sports Camp. He said Coach Wilson was looking for some good college players to be counselors and, if I wanted, he could put in the good word for me. I could have said no, because I really was looking forward to getting back to Arizona for the summer, but something inside told me to go for this. I also went to see an academic advisor at Wyoming and asked him what I would need to do with my major, because I wanted to go into coaching. I was in my fourth year of college and was actually quite close to having enough hours in pre-law, political science to graduate. The correct answer by the academic advisor should have been that I didn’t have to change my major to be a coach, because you just need a Bachelor’s degree to get into the profession- majors are irrelevant. Fortunately for me, the guy didn’t have any idea and said I should switch my major over to physical education, because isn’t coaching some kind of physical activity? Even though I ended up down the road with over 160 hours of college credit, I was able to graduate with a dual major, which had a major impact on the rest of my life.
It turned out that Dave Brunkal didn’t end up working at Perry’s Sports Camp that summer, a fact that he neglected to tell me until I was ready to go. By then, however, I had a strong feeling that this camp was going to be something special for me, so I flew up to Portland, where Coach Wilson himself met me and drove me to Vernonia, Oregon, which was 44 miles northwest of Portland. On the drive, I talked basketball with the coach all the way, which was really the first time in four years that I had a meaningful conversation with a college coach. The camp was in a beautiful setting outside of town- a classic camp with wooden dorms, eight outdoor courts, a swimming pool, and a cafeteria. The other counselors were all good college players, including Mike Dolven, the starting center for Washington State, who is still today one of my closest friends. The games us counselors had against each other every day were great- much better than I could have ever gotten in Phoenix that summer. Not only that, we were witnessing and learning from a great basketball coach in Coach Wilson. He was a fundamental teacher with a twist of some genius footwork that I had never seen or even contemplated before. He was fun to be around and ran a super camp, with the best high school players that Oregon had. Gradually, as the camp progressed, I began to wish that I could play for Coach Wilson. I began to talk that way to my friends, particularly Mike. I had been in college four years and had barely spoken on a genial level to any of my coaches. None of them had taken much time to teach basketball, so I had begun to think that was how college basketball was. I was looking at the bigger picture down the road- I was going to be a coach. Suddenly Wyoming and Division 1 basketball didn’t seem as important as it once had. I had dreamed about playing D1, had played it, and knew that I could, and I could return to Wyoming for my last year and would have for sure, had I not come to Perry’s Sports Camp. Coach Wilson didn’t have to recruit me, as some people speculated later that he did- I recruited him. I wanted my last year of college basketball to be something special, and particularly something that I could learn good things from. Even though I could only play one semester, I decided to transfer to Linfield and learn from a great coach once again, as I did under Coach Youree.
One thing that I know is true of all the good players that I have played with and coached- and I mean the really good ones- is that they want to be coached. They want to learn and they want honest feedback, based on an honest and friendly relationship with their coach. They get enough pats on the back from their parents and friends. That is one of the universal principles that separates players.
I came back to Oregon in the fall, and like I said, really enjoyed being around Coach Wilson and the team. His practices were very fundamental and he liked to run, which is what he could do with the talent we had. I sat out the first semester games and then played and started all 15 in the second semester. We were co-champions of the Northwest Conference and lost in the regional playoffs to go the NAIA national tournament. In the playoff game, I was at the free throw line with four seconds left, score tied, shooting a one on one. I made the first, so what would you do? We were playing Lewis and Clark and they had no timeouts left. I looked over to the bench at Coach Wilson and he gave me a do-whatever-you-want look. I don’t think I tried to miss, but I did miss. L&C rebounded the ball, threw a pass to a guy at half court and he banked it in from there to beat us by one. I remember how sad it was leaving the gym knowing that my career in college was over. I finished second on the team in scoring average and first in rebounding average, but was only named all-conference honorable mention, probably because I had only played a semester. When they tore down the old gym at Linfield, and before he passed away, Coach Wilson sent me a piece of the gym floor that I still treasure today, that had a little plaque on it that reads “I only wish I would have had you longer”. I hear you, Coach.
I had dreamed of playing professionally, but knew that was a long shot. Surprisingly, I got drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in their supplemental draft. These days, the NBA only drafts two rounds, so if you don’t get picked, you can try out all over the place. In those days, the teams drafted deeper and once you were picked, you were locked into that team for a year, whether you made it or not. At the end of a year, you became a “free agent”. I knew nothing of any of that and it was exciting to look forward to going to a professional camp.
Next…the Pro’s….
The Universe is a fascinating place, for sure. Some people believe that nothing happens randomly, but that there is a force out there gives us what we really want. It may not be exactly what you thought it would be, but all of your actions led right to it. And when you look back you often think, well I got what I deserved. Most people call this force “destiny”, and I am one of the believers, I must admit. Right after my first season of competition with Wyoming, I was telling myself that I would work harder than ever to become the kind of player that Coach Strannigan would have to rely on the next season. I had done enough to think I could play NCAA D1 basketball, I just needed to be smarter.
Destiny had other plans, however. As soon as I had made my decision to be a coach rather than a lawyer, my whole perspective began to change, followed by the next set of events in my basketball life. When I started in college, I felt like the legal profession was where I wanted to go- then into politics, but I had no real picture in my mind of what that was like. It’s like walking in the dark- you know where you want to go, but you hit or step on unseen stuff along the way. When my epiphany about coaching struck me, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and could see myself doing it. When it becomes that clear, then things begin to happen to make it real. Those are followed by your actions. I got a phone call right after the season from a friend of mine, Dave Brunkal, a guy who was playing at an NAIA school in Oregon called Linfield College. He loved his coach, Ted Wilson, and mentioned that the coach ran a basketball camp in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon in the summer called Perry’s Sports Camp. He said Coach Wilson was looking for some good college players to be counselors and, if I wanted, he could put in the good word for me. I could have said no, because I really was looking forward to getting back to Arizona for the summer, but something inside told me to go for this. I also went to see an academic advisor at Wyoming and asked him what I would need to do with my major, because I wanted to go into coaching. I was in my fourth year of college and was actually quite close to having enough hours in pre-law, political science to graduate. The correct answer by the academic advisor should have been that I didn’t have to change my major to be a coach, because you just need a Bachelor’s degree to get into the profession- majors are irrelevant. Fortunately for me, the guy didn’t have any idea and said I should switch my major over to physical education, because isn’t coaching some kind of physical activity? Even though I ended up down the road with over 160 hours of college credit, I was able to graduate with a dual major, which had a major impact on the rest of my life.
It turned out that Dave Brunkal didn’t end up working at Perry’s Sports Camp that summer, a fact that he neglected to tell me until I was ready to go. By then, however, I had a strong feeling that this camp was going to be something special for me, so I flew up to Portland, where Coach Wilson himself met me and drove me to Vernonia, Oregon, which was 44 miles northwest of Portland. On the drive, I talked basketball with the coach all the way, which was really the first time in four years that I had a meaningful conversation with a college coach. The camp was in a beautiful setting outside of town- a classic camp with wooden dorms, eight outdoor courts, a swimming pool, and a cafeteria. The other counselors were all good college players, including Mike Dolven, the starting center for Washington State, who is still today one of my closest friends. The games us counselors had against each other every day were great- much better than I could have ever gotten in Phoenix that summer. Not only that, we were witnessing and learning from a great basketball coach in Coach Wilson. He was a fundamental teacher with a twist of some genius footwork that I had never seen or even contemplated before. He was fun to be around and ran a super camp, with the best high school players that Oregon had. Gradually, as the camp progressed, I began to wish that I could play for Coach Wilson. I began to talk that way to my friends, particularly Mike. I had been in college four years and had barely spoken on a genial level to any of my coaches. None of them had taken much time to teach basketball, so I had begun to think that was how college basketball was. I was looking at the bigger picture down the road- I was going to be a coach. Suddenly Wyoming and Division 1 basketball didn’t seem as important as it once had. I had dreamed about playing D1, had played it, and knew that I could, and I could return to Wyoming for my last year and would have for sure, had I not come to Perry’s Sports Camp. Coach Wilson didn’t have to recruit me, as some people speculated later that he did- I recruited him. I wanted my last year of college basketball to be something special, and particularly something that I could learn good things from. Even though I could only play one semester, I decided to transfer to Linfield and learn from a great coach once again, as I did under Coach Youree.
One thing that I know is true of all the good players that I have played with and coached- and I mean the really good ones- is that they want to be coached. They want to learn and they want honest feedback, based on an honest and friendly relationship with their coach. They get enough pats on the back from their parents and friends. That is one of the universal principles that separates players.
I came back to Oregon in the fall, and like I said, really enjoyed being around Coach Wilson and the team. His practices were very fundamental and he liked to run, which is what he could do with the talent we had. I sat out the first semester games and then played and started all 15 in the second semester. We were co-champions of the Northwest Conference and lost in the regional playoffs to go the NAIA national tournament. In the playoff game, I was at the free throw line with four seconds left, score tied, shooting a one on one. I made the first, so what would you do? We were playing Lewis and Clark and they had no timeouts left. I looked over to the bench at Coach Wilson and he gave me a do-whatever-you-want look. I don’t think I tried to miss, but I did miss. L&C rebounded the ball, threw a pass to a guy at half court and he banked it in from there to beat us by one. I remember how sad it was leaving the gym knowing that my career in college was over. I finished second on the team in scoring average and first in rebounding average, but was only named all-conference honorable mention, probably because I had only played a semester. When they tore down the old gym at Linfield, and before he passed away, Coach Wilson sent me a piece of the gym floor that I still treasure today, that had a little plaque on it that reads “I only wish I would have had you longer”. I hear you, Coach.
I had dreamed of playing professionally, but knew that was a long shot. Surprisingly, I got drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in their supplemental draft. These days, the NBA only drafts two rounds, so if you don’t get picked, you can try out all over the place. In those days, the teams drafted deeper and once you were picked, you were locked into that team for a year, whether you made it or not. At the end of a year, you became a “free agent”. I knew nothing of any of that and it was exciting to look forward to going to a professional camp.
Next…the Pro’s….
