Not Only In The Movies!

Something happened today that left me speechless, and those of you who know me can attest to the fact that doesn't happen very often! I was in the office this morning when I received a phone call from a former part time UCC student who made an offer to anonymously help one of our players, Mykiea Russell, continue her education. I had never spoken to this person before but just a couple minutes into our conversation I realized I was talking to someone very special.

Evidently this particular student was once in a class with Mykiea and by the end of the term was extremely impressed with Mykie's positive attitude, work ethic, desire to learn, and overall personality. (No surprise here since Mykie is one of the nicest, most genuine people you will ever meet!)

Now if you think this offer was basketball related, you're completely wrong. This generous student has not been to a single basketball game over the last two years and even asked me if Mykiea was any good as a player! No, this offer was made to help Mykiea the person, not Mykiea the player. It was simply offered from one classmate to another.

Imagine a Caucasian outdoorsperson who has always lived in rural areas giving a large sum of money to help a young African-American from inner city Los Angeles without any desire for thanks or recognition! Up to this point, their life experiences couldn't possibly be more opposite, yet from this point on they will always be connected. This random act of kindness will help Mykie get her degree (she wants to be a music teacher) and then Mykie will help dozens of others who then in turn will hopefully branch out and help hundreds of others.

Usually stories like this are mostly found in movie theaters, but this one is real and unscripted and playing out before our eyes. I feel very lucky to have a front row seat and even without seeing the ending I'm giving it two thumbs up!

Catching Up

It's been forever since I've written and so I really need to get everything caught up and current. We are currently 8-3 but our record might be a little deceiving. All three losses have come on the last day of eight team tournaments when we've played three days in a row. I'm certainly not making excuses or taking anything away from the teams that beat us but in the preseason it's really tough to run and press with maximum intensity for three straight days. Two of those losses came in a stretch right before and after Christmas where we had 6 games in 11 days with no practices in between.

Then why do we do it? First, because that's where our strengths are, second because it's fun and third because it allows us to play more players than many other teams, which helps them improve at a faster rate. And the faster they improve individually the better it is for all of us.

As far as the numbers go, we are first in the Pacific Northwest in average of shots made and attempted per game, we are second in in scoring, second in total offensive rebounding (first in average per game) and second in steals per game. (by half a steal) Mykiea Russell and Jameia McDuffie rank first and second in the Northwest in steals and Nneamaka Anyanwu is fourth in scoring.

Mykiea Russell & Fastbreak Wins Say No Championship

Last week UCC's Mykiea Russell (#1 in the picture) and her Fastbreak teammates won the prestigious Say No Classic Championship. The Say No is an NCAA approved summer league that is made up primarily of D1 and D2 players and is played in the old PE gym on the USC campus. Read about the championship game and see pictures on Sue Favor's They're Playing Basketball blog at http://hoopism.blogspot.com/.

Being A Great Player Is An Uphill Battle

It's a widely accepted theory that great teams are made during the season and great players are made in the off season. If that theory holds true, returning sophomore Mykiea Russell can look forward to an awesome sophomore season. Not only is she competing with and against D1 players in the famous Say No Classic summer league in Los Angeles, but she is also working out under the direction of coach/trainer/author Sue Favor. Their most recent workouts consist of running the sand dunes at Manhattan Beach. Next March when Mykie still has gas in the tank, when her legs and lungs are as strong in the last five minutes as they were in the first five minutes, she's going to look back and know that her uphill sprints in the heat of July has paid off.

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

Christmas Break

The last week has been so hectic and crazy that it just wouldn't be fair to call it a vacation or even a break!! It started at the Chemeketa tournament in Salem where we played extremely well and beat both Treasure Valley (110-65) and Seattle (113-72) and then had the opportunity to play Chemeketa. Once again that didn't work out when Chemeketa couldn't guarantee that the weather wouldn't keep their players from making it back to the gym.

So instead of playing another game, all the girls scattered for various destinations and Linda and I drove back to Roseburg by ourselves. Most of the girls made it home without a problem but not all of them. Mykie ended up spending a day and a half in the Portland airport before she could finally get a flight out to LA; Cassie had to take a 12 hour detour driving to Idaho because I-84 was completely closed; and Titi's standby flight to Hawaii was first redirected to Utah where she remained for the next four days.

Kristi sent me a text Christmas morning asking if I would open the gym again for her after everything slowed down. (We worked out a couple days ago.) So at 7:30pm nine year old Taylor and I picked up Kristi and headed to UCC. As I was driving I couldn't help but making up my own version of "The Night Before Christmas."

"Twas the night we call Christmas and all through the Northwest; not many players were shooting; only the best. . . ."

After we shot for an hour, Kristi kind of put her around Taylor and said, "Now you're a day ahead of every other fourth grader you'll play against." Not only was it a very wise statement but it also gave us great insight into Kristi's thinking. I couldn't help but wonder how many times Kristi has walked out of the gym after working out by herself and thought, "Now I'm one day ahead of everyone else!" Probably too many to count.

(Mykie just called from a pay phone at the Portland airport to tell me that she made it back safely. She is going to meet Titi, who is on a flight now, in an hour and then Cassie will meet up with both of them on her way back from Idaho and drive them to Roseburg. It's always a proud and happy time for "dads" when they see their "kids" looking out for each other!)

Alumni Game & Dinner

Other than playing for a championship the Alumni game is the most fun game of the year! We've had some pretty good teams over the years and so our alumni are pretty good and even though don't play everyday they are still as competitive as ever. Fortunately for our won-loss record, the alumni just aren't in as good as shape as our current players. Last night the scored was tied at 50 with about 15:00 to go in the game before conditioning became a factor and our current team started to pull away. It was hard resisting the urge to coach both teams. At one point, alum Katie Stephens, who drove up from Chico, CA to play in the game, had the ball on the wing in front of our bench and was being pressured while trying to find someone open. I watched the official counting out five seconds and instinctivily told Katie to "take a dribble" so the count would start over. It was fun to watch Micaela (Williams) Leinonen switch players so she could "D-up" Kristi Fallin after Kristi hit her eighth 3 of the game. (Micalea holds the UCC record of 10 3's in a game) And I couldn't help but smile after Mykiea Russell stripped Krissy Scoggin (2000 NWAACC Champion, 4th all time scorer at UCC, and mother of 3) and layed the ball in and then the two of them high fived on the way back down the court.

After the game most of us went out to eat (picture above), told war stories and took turns holding Becci (Randall) Beneau's baby daughter. My daughter Taylor asked for a dollar to play in the arcade and as soon as I opened my wallet Cassie Scheffelmaier and Kristi asked if they too could have dollars to play in the arcade. Titi Takai and Kirsten Strawn teamed up to set the arcade basketball shooting record while the cheers from teammates, alumni, and kids drowned out most casual conversations. It was a great time and ended way too soon for me.

After everyone else left, Craig Scoggin, Tim Randall and I stood around and talked about the impact that UCC basketball has had on their families and the community in general. Eventually we all left and as I drove home I thought back on the entire night and kept thinking to myself "That's why I coach."

Great Weekend - Lousy 22 Seconds!!

It's amazing how 22 seconds can ruin your whole weekend!! After beating Bellevue and Columbia Basin in the first two rounds, we tipped off against Yakima Valley CC in the championship game of the Yakima Tournament. With 22 seconds to go and the score tied at 80 we turned the ball over before we could get off the shot we wanted. Yakima immediately called timeout and set up a play to go to their best scorer. We successfully stopped their first option, but in the mad scramble that followed, they fired up a deep, deep 3 that beat us. Kristi Fallin finished the game with 31 pts and 11 rebounds while Cassandra Tiggett grabbed 17 rebounds and Mykiea Russell added 11 points but the loss definitely made the long trip home even longer!

Yakima Valley CC is a very good team that was picked by many in the preseason to win the always strong NWAACC Eastern Region. Playing Yakima at Yakima is especially tough but we certainly didn't help our own cause by committing 31 turnovers and missing 14 free throws. We'll continue to work hard and get better, as I'm sure Yakima will, and maybe we'll see each other again in March.

A special thanks to Andy & Kathy Owens for taking the team to dinner while Linda and I stayed in the gym to watch and scout other games. Running a first class program is a huge endeavor and we're always grateful for those parents, friends, and fans that go out of their way to help us. Thank you very much!!

Scrimmages & Halloween

October always seems like it's twice as long as any other month of the year and this year was no exception. We all get tired of conditioning and practicing with and against the same players day after day after day and it seems like game time will never get here. The challenge for all of us is to bring game-like focus, concentration, and intensity to practice every day, even though we know our first game is still weeks away.

This past week we had scrimmages at Southern Oregon University and OIT. At times we played very well and other times we struggled. With seven newcomers on our ten player roster it's still taking some time to get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses and to get our timing down, especially on offense. We're still not in sync half the time but I expect that will come with experience. Our biggest drawback right now is that we need to get in better shape. As soon as we get tired we're a step slow to the ball, we're not as physical, and we have trouble concentrating. I think once we're in better shape we have a chance to be very, very good.

Last Friday was Halloween and most of the team came over for dinner and then took nine year olds Taylor and Caelynn trick or treating. Mykiea Russell put on an ugly pirate mask, grabbed an empty pillow case and came back with at least a weeks worth of candy. Mistaking her for a kid, several people asked her if she had just moved into the neighborhood. . . If you think she's scary in these pictures, wait until you see her pick up full court!!