Working Vacation

I was really hoping/planning on being in Springfield, MA this week watching my son Jeff and his BYUH teammates play for the NCAA DII National Championship, but when they lost at the buzzer in the Regional Finals, plans quickly changed. We loaded up the Yukon and headed south for a week long working vacation, mixing family time and recruiting, and having a great time at both. Stops in Redding, Los Angeles, Desert Hot Springs, Westminster, and now Fresno have kept us going non stop but it's been both fun and productive. It'd be nice to have another week, or at least a few more days, but school and spring workouts start Monday and I'm looking forward to seeing all the girls again!

While standing at the entrance of the Silver Bullett roller coaster at Knott's BerryFarm a lady approached Linda and asked if we were the Umpqua women's basketball coaches. Evidently, she and her family live in a small town outside of Roseburg and have been watching our games for years. I guess it really is a small world after all. (No wait, that's at Disneyland, not Knott's Berry Farm!)

UCC almnae Aubrey (Dickson) Dobrkovsky, one of the program's all time leading scorer and a former Kodak All American sent us a text telling us that she and her husband BJ are expecting their first child next October. Of course I reminded her that David is a great name in case it's boy. If it's a girl I may have a letter of intent sent directly to the hospital. . . .BJ played in college and is now a very successful high school basketball coach and Aubrey was one of the best in the country. . . genes like theirs could help a coach win a few games!!

One Family-Three Great Seasons

The 2008-2009 basketball season is now officially over for the Stricklin family and I must admit that even though I'm still in mourning, it was a pretty good season for all of us. As UCC followers already know, we finished the season 29-3, averaged 90 points a game and were ranked #1 in the Pacific Northwest from start to finish. My son Brad and his North Eugene HS teammates won their first three playoff games and got to finish out their season at historic Mac Court on the campus of the University of Oregon. My oldest son Jeff, a junior on BYU-Hawaii's team, saw his season come to an end last night when the Seasiders lost at the buzzer and were upset in the NCAA West Regional Final. They had their 25 game winning streak snapped and finished with a 27-2 record.

Jeff's game was on TV last night but didn't start until 10:30pm PST.
It looked like BYUH had the game locked up with about seven minutes to go only to let it slip away at the end. The parent in me was concerned about how disappointed Jeff and his teammates were feeling. (When Jeff finally called after the game he could barely talk and wasn't much better when I called him this afternoon) The coach in me had to completely analyze what happened and so I went over a tape of the game until after 2am. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I watched the tape, the game always ended the same way!!

Coincidentally,I was cleaning out a closet this morning and came across a book by John Maxwell called "Talent Is Never Enough" and I instantly started to think about our three teams and how each one ended the season. You know, although it is definitely a great place to start, talent really isn't enough. Sometimes you need you need a little luck; sometimes you need better decision making from both players and coaches; sometimes you need favorable officiating and sometimes you just need someone to step up and make a play! But because talent isn't always enough, sometimes the best team doesn't win, and that fact can result in some exciting possibilities - unless of course you're the best team! The 2009-2010 season can now officially begin! Let's hope it's another great one for all of us!!

Last Van Ride Of The Season

It's been an emotional few days around here. As we drove back from playing in the NWAACC All Star Game last Sunday, Kristi Fallin sat in the front seat while Cassandra and Mykie slept on the seats behind us and we talked for hours about how hard she's worked and improved over the last two years and then speculated about what the future holds for all of us. Kristi realized and pointed out that the whole trip was one full of "lasts" - the last time wearing her Umpqua uniform, the last time riding in the van, the last time playing with her Umpqua teammates, the last time listening to Jimmy Buffett off my MP3 player, the last time reminding me to wear my glasses while driving, the last time stopping at the Eugene AM/PM etc. etc. Usually we all hate riding in the van this time of year but this time neither one of us was in a hurry for the trip to end.

I really appreciated Titi (Hawaii), Mykie (California), Cassandra, and Cassie (Idaho) all stopping by the office to say goodbye before heading home for spring break. I know they were busy and also very anxious to get home but they still took the time out to come see me before they left. And then knowing that Linda and I would worry about them while travelling, TiTi, Mykie, and Cassie all let us know as soon as they arrived safely. They're basketball players inside the gym and family the rest of the time!

Follow the link below and check out some action shots of the girls:
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ThumbPage.aspx?e=4577181&g=03&s=0

29-3 But I Wish We Were Just Starting

I'm not real sure where to begin. At the NWAACC Championship Tournament we played very well against Bellevue, Lower Columbia, and Clackamas while capturing wins number 27, 28, and 29 but it was an entirely different story in our game against Skagit Valley. I don't want to go into great detail because it still hurts to even think about it, but it's safe to say that a six minute scoring draught undoubtedly cost us a shot at win number 30 and a perfect ending to an already awesome season. On the positive side, I guess it says a lot about our overall program when we can finish 29-3 and still be somewhat disappointed!!

Miranda Holenstein sent me a text telling me that she started crying after it suddenly occurred to her that there was no practice today. She said that the things in practice that she thought she "hated" the most are really the things that she already misses the most. It just seems like we should all be together preparing for the next game but instead we just mentally and physically wandered around. For the first time in weeks I didn't watch game tape today.

I do get to watch some of our players get after it one more time this season: Kristi Fallin, Cassie Scheffelmaier, Miranda Holenstein, TiTi Takai, and Cassandra Tiggett have all been selected to play in the NWAACC Sophomore All Star Game next Sunday at Pierce College in Lakewood, WA. Only once before have five players from the same school made the All Star team and coincidently that was our 2000 Umpqua team. This year our players and the other Southern Region All Stars will take on a team from the Northern Region.

The above picture was taken at the NWAACC championship banquet. I might be a little biased but I thought our girls were the classiest looking team there! Good looking, sharp dressers, and the ability to score 90 points a game. . .what more could we ask for? (Except to win just one more game!)

Playoff Brackets Set - UCC Opens With Bellevue

The NWAACC Championship Tournament brackets have been set and UCC, the Southern Region champions, opens the tournament with Bellevue CC (Bellevue, WA) at 8pm Thursday, March 5th at the Toyota Center in Kennewick, WA. UCC beat Bellevue 81-77 in the very first game of the season during the opening round of the Yakima Tournament.

The second round of the tournament will match UCC with either Lower Columbia (Longview, WA) or Treasure Valley CC (Ontario, OR).

The entire bracket, complete with game times, can be found at http://nwaacc.org/basketball/Tourneys/2009_NWAACC_WOMENS_BRACKET.pdf