New coach hopes for boys hoops culture change

Published 4:41 pm Friday, November 21, 2014

During every drill, new Falcon boys basketball head coach Michael Washington is close by, cheering, yelling, and clapping.

Lots of clapping.

It is all part of a grand, if at times exhausting, plan Washington has for the South Whidbey High School hoops program. He has something more than wins on his mind when he steps onto the court at South Whidbey High School.

Washington is trying to turn the cynicism of high school boys into enthusiasm and positive reinforcement — no simple task in the age of biting sarcasm, cyberbullying and being nonchalant.

But there’s Washington, South Whidbey’s sixth head coach in eight years, ready to take on perhaps the most daunting of challenges: a culture change.

“We just have to see if the kids are going to buy into it,” said assistant coach Tim Collins, who leads the junior varsity team and has been on the coaching bench for three different coaches in the past four years. “But as long as we’re consistent as a coaching staff, the kids will have a choice.”

During a recent practice, all of Washington’s efforts were on display. Only days into the official season, the Falcons from freshman to senior know the call-and-response the former Navy man expects after explaining a play or drill. After speaking, he asks, “Get it?”

The answer from the 31 Falcons is in unison and unanimous.

“Got it!”

“We have to teach them that anything they do in life, they don’t just have to do it,” Washington said in a phone interview Thursday. “They have to have passion for it. I don’t believe in not putting my best foot forward.”

Then there’s the clapping. Tired of hearing players grumble after mistakes — their own or someone else’s — Washington has instituted an expectation to have the other teams give a quick three-clap salute as a means of picking up the other guy.

“If he sets that example, then he expects the kids to do it too,” Collins said. “You need to have some enthusiasm and some appreciation for why you’re out there.”

Near the end of a recent practice, he brings the players in around him. As they gather, they begin clapping. He urges them to let out a few “Yeahs” and “Oh yeahs” as they circle up to hear him stress the need for them to generate enthusiasm.

“I can’t be the loudest person here,” he said earlier in the practice after a “Get it?” “Got it” that fell a little quiet, leading to a handful of pushups by the players, with Washington leading them.

Washington isn’t shy to completely stop a practice to make a correction or a point. When one player’s defense is suspect as another player moves without the ball toward the rim, he blows the whistle twice, halting the drill. He moves one player into the position of the offense, inserts himself in as the defender, and shows the dozen veteran Falcons how they should defend — not too close to get blown by, but not so far away as to allow a shot or a simple pass.

“When I correct people, that means I’m talking to everybody,” he said.

Yet, as they run through a fast-paced transition layup drill, Washington blows his whistle twice, halting practice. His message: don’t be afraid to make a mistake.

“They’re gonna make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes,” he said in a later interview.

“I just want them to go out there and just play. Know what we’re doing, and just play,” he added.

The culture of South Whidbey boys basketball has floundered for years. Turnover at the head coaching position since 2006 led to no coach in the past eight years staying for more than three seasons.

“Losing brings out the worst in everything. Winning fosters enthusiasm and fosters participation,” Collins said. “He’s heading in the right direction; it may not happen in one year.”

Scott Collins, last year’s head coach, left in the offseason to take a different position. The Falcons finished 6-17 last year and have not had a winning record since the 2010-11 season, when Henry Pope took over until he died in June 2013.

To honor Pope, Washington has started the mantra of asking “What’s your why? We do it for Coach Henry Pope!”