Heraldnet.com
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008 3:44 am
LocalNorthwestNation & WorldPoliticsSpecial ReportsPhotosColumnistsMultimedia 
Blog
Double Team
Reader poll: Most exciting fall sport?
Latest gallery

High School Soccer (2008)
October 6. 2008 (12 photos)
[More Herald photos]
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
Tuesday
Does Countrywide owe you mortgage help?
Gregoire plans $240 million in cost-cutting
Arlington fashion statement helps fight cancer
Monday


Green thumbs in Marysville
Snohomish County schools that aren't up to stan...
Richard Larsen, longtime public servant, dies a...
Sunday


Recycling a house: Everett home goes to make ne...
A year after plane crash, pain still fresh for ...
The flight of the great pumpkin
Saturday


Will the bailout help?
Comcast Arena -- 5 years later
County to pay $1 million in slaying
Friday


Young couple leave Everett for worldwide trip
1 in 5 Snohomish County mobile homes could be u...
Cascade High class grades the debaters
Thursday


Victims of Snohomish fire sought a fresh start
Craigslist ad linked to Brinks heist in Monroe
County financial report worsens
Wednesday


Fire too fast to save four in Snohomish
Robber may have fled by floating
Assisted suicide foes find ally in Martin Sheen
 

ADVERTISEMENT

High Schools   Print This Article  Email This Page  Subscribe Now! facebook digg reddit del.icio.us fark stumble

Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald  (click to enlarge)
Jack deKubber (left), coach of the 1970 Snohomish High School boys basketball team which won the state championship, listens during a 2000 ceremony honoring the team.
 
ADVERTISEMENT

 
HIGH SCHOOL SCORES AND SCHEDULES:
By sport:
By date:
By school:    • Stadium map
By league:
STANDINGS:
CONTACT THE HERALD
Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.)
E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com
Kevin Brown, Sports Editor
kbrown@heraldnet.com
 
Published: Thursday, July 24, 2008

More glory for former Snohomish High basketball coach

The WIBCA Hall of Fame today inducts Jack deKubber, who guided the Panther boys to the 1970 state basketball championship.

Jack deKubber said he never spent much time pondering the number of wins and losses his teams accumulated over the years.

But the success of the boys basketball squads coached by deKubber was enviable, and it eventually earned him a coveted honor.

Tonight in Tacoma, deKubber will be inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The 72-year-old spent 18 years as a high school boys hoops coach: one at Granite Falls, two at Arlington and 15 at Snohomish.

During his career, deKubber tallied 236 victories, 13 winning seasons, four league titles and one state championship (at Snohomish in 1970).

Here is what deKubber said about the hall of fame honor, his coaching origins and the unforgettable 1970 season, among other topics.

Q. Where does the WIBCA Hall of Fame honor rank on the list of others you've received?

A."It means a great deal, but it's probably a step below the year we won the state championship, because we came back into town (and) it was just unbelievable," said deKubber, who recalled the massive parade of cars that snaked through Snohomish and met at the high school for a celebration rally.

Q. You coached Snohomish for 15 of your 18 years as a head coach. Why did you stay so long?

A. "I never had any inkling of going on (to coach beyond) high school," said deKubber, who was a longtime teacher and administrator in the Snohomish School District. "People asked me why I didn't try to get into college coaching. Well, I just never had (the desire)."

Added deKubber, who since 1963 has lived in a Snohomish home he built with his dad, "This school has, and has had, so much tradition."

Q. What was the 1969-70 championship season like?

A. "I felt we could get to the final four," said deKubber, whose teams reached the round of 16 the previous three seasons.

After going 19-1 in the regular season, Snohomish got through districts and regionals, reaching the semifinals at the University of Washington. Part of a four-team field that entered the AAA (now called 4A) final four with a combined total of three losses, the Panthers edged West Seattle 63-62 in the semifinals and held off Pasco 53-51 in overtime in the championship.

Fueled by players like Doug Love, a 6-foot-8 center, and guards Evan Thomas and Ben Krause, Snohomish finished 25-2. Their state title is still the only one in program history.

Q. What was the strength of that championship squad?

A. "We had a good defensive team, and that's what people probably didn't realize," deKubber said. "We changed defenses all the time: Man, zone. We just had certain little things that we did and we knew what we were doing."

Q. Who or what inspired you to coach?

A. "I think from about the fifth grade on I had a basketball in my hand. Basketball was my love, and that's the reason I got into coaching," said deKubber, a smooth-shooting guard who grew up in Lynden. He got a basketball scholarship to the UW but said he didn't play much. After transferring to Western Washington University, a leg injury sidelined him for most of his one season there.

Q. What were your main coaching philosophies?

A. "I felt the ball game broke down into three categories: Defense, rebounding and free throws," deKubber said. "I didn't even talk about offense because most kids, if you leave them open they can make the shots. And it wasn't that much different in those days. So if you can play better defense than the other team and make it tough on them to get the shots they wanted, you win."

Q. How did you get your first coaching job?

A. "I had taken a job as a ninth-grade coach in Mount Vernon but my wife told me there was a head job open at Granite Falls," said deKubber. "So I called them up, interviewed and got the job. I was just out of college."

Writer Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.

1. Does Countrywide owe you mortgage help?
2. Edmonds neighbors pitch fit over new metal pole
3. Boeing keeps pressure on Machinists
4. McNerney: Strikes hurt Boeing's standing
5. Arlington fashion statement helps fight cancer
6. Seahawks' team leaders bring calming voice
7. New warning on microwaving frozen meals
8. Dog wakes man, saving both from fire in travel trailer
9. Granite Falls police stop driver, find pipe bomb inside car
10. Boeing’s Carson: ‘job stability cannot be protected by words on paper’
Enterprise Newspaper Snohomish County Business Journal
Young versus younger in the 21st
Forgotten time capsule discovered
Edmonds-Woodway pulls away in second half
A long-awaited opening
Going for Brooke
Bringing South Africa to the world
Shoreline resident writes new song for the UW
Crosswalk deemed unsafe will close
Legislature candidates debate at Shoreline CC
The Enterprise Online Newspaper

TODAY'S TOP JOBS
 View All Top Jobs 
Top Cars
Top Homes


ADVERTISEMENT