Lake Stevens senior gives up roster spot to become a coach

LAKE STEVENS — Even with the prospect of little playing time in his senior season, Dylin Stoen’s primary concern was how best he could help the Lake Stevens High School boys basketball team.

Stoen, a senior and longtime program player who was slated for a limited role this winter, knew there would still be ways to contribute. He could be a good practice player. He could be a supportive teammate from the bench. He could go all-out during his precious few minutes on the court.

But Stoen wanted to give the Lake Stevens basketball program something more.

“I felt like just kind of gliding through the year as a senior wasn’t what I wanted to do,” he said. “I wanted to be more involved.”

So after earning a spot on varsity and going through the first week of practice, Stoen decided to make a sacrifice unlike anything Lake Stevens coach Mark Hein has seen in his 29 seasons on the sidelines.

Stoen chose to give up his spot on the team and instead serve as a student coach.

“I literally kind of started tearing up, because it was such an unselfish act,” said Hein, describing his reaction when Stoen first approached him with the idea. “We always talk about being a good teammate, and I can’t think of a better (example) in my coaching career than what he’s chosen to do.”

The idea came to Stoen one night as he was thinking about how best to serve the team and what kind of legacy he wanted to leave. He said he felt being a student coach would be the best way to utilize his passion for the game, interest in coaching and care for his teammates — many of whom he’s played with since fifth grade.

“I was just kind of sitting there and thinking about the team, about my career, everything,” Stoen said. “I was going through it and it really just came to me. I just really wanted to help out and do something more.”

Stoen has taken on a variety of responsibilities since becoming a coach, adapting to whatever needs to be done. During games, he often keeps stats or charts shots. And during practice, he runs a 10-minute conditioning segment known as “Dylin Time” that’s had a definite effect.

“He’s working us hard and getting us better,” said senior forward Marquel McFerrin, a longtime friend and teammate. “A lot of drills that we used to do on our (select) team, he thought would be a good idea to bring here. And we’ve gotten a lot more conditioned since then.”

Moreover, Hein describes Stoen as “an active part of practice.” Sometimes that means leading drills. Other times it means providing valuable insight by tracking certain trends.

“Many times, he’s specifically given me feedback: ‘Hey, the black team had four possessions where all five guys blocked out and did their job on defensive rebounding,’” Hein said. “So he’s given me invaluable feedback — another set of eyes to see things in practice that might get overlooked.

“He’s been fantastic in this (coaching) role,” Hein added. “He hasn’t just done it — he’s done it well.”

And Stoen’s contributions extend beyond the court. He’s also taken on behind-the-scenes duties such as entering stats online, which allows the rest of the coaching staff to devote more time to the team.

Hein, a math teacher at the school, said Stoen even offered to correct his papers, “just to free up your time to help you coach these guys as well as you possibly can and give them everything you can.”

Stoen’s unique position as a student coach also has helped benefit team chemistry, thanks to how easily he relates to the players.

“It definitely brings us closer as a team, because it’s kind of cool having a guy who’s just like us out there, but mentoring us at the same time,” McFerrin said. “So he kind of gets us a little bit more than the other coaches, because he was recently in the same boat as us.”

Stoen’s selfless decision to give up his spot on the team is no small sacrifice. He has played basketball for as long as he can remember, and said he devoted as many as eight hours per day to the sport during his eighth-grade year.

With two older brothers who played for the varsity team — including Devin, a 2013 graduate who starred for the Vikings before playing at Edmonds Community College — Stoen grew up around Lake Stevens hoops. Up until this season, he had played all the way through the Lake Stevens select and high school programs.

“It’s really something,” McFerrin said of his teammate’s sacrifice. “I know how much he loves the game of basketball and how much he wants to be out there playing. But I think he just really realized … he could be helping the team in other ways.”

As much as Stoen enjoyed playing, he also has a passion for studying the game. Over the years, he’s watched countless videos that have furthered his basketball knowledge. It all stems from a deep love of the sport.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve loved the game,” Stoen said. “I’ve loved interacting, I’ve loved communicating with people — I just love everything about it.”

So while hanging up his sneakers was difficult, Stoen said he has no regrets.

“It was definitely a tough decision to make, because it is my last season,” he said. “Of course, every teenager wants to go out and play their last season. But now that I’m helping out, interacting and really getting involved, I can feel the impact that I’m having.”

Stoen, who aspires to study computer science in college, said he’s interested in coaching basketball in the future. And Hein said his senior has the qualities to be a good coach.

“He’s put a lot of time into his game and he would be great at individual skill development,” Hein said. “And he has a good sense of what a team needs. For such a young guy — just to see how the kids respect him so naturally in his role — I could easily see him doing it down the road.”

If so, Stoen might already have a motivational ploy in his back pocket.

At the end of a recent practice, as is customary, Hein asked each of the coaches if they had something to say. “‘Hey Dylin, you got anything?’” Hein recalls. “And he was like, ‘Nope. Actually, yes I do.’”

Stoen then walked up, grabbed a ball and immediately drained a half-court shot.

“Everyone went crazy,” Hein said. “It was awesome. We like to say he hit legendary status that day.”

It might be a different sort of stardom than that of his older brother, Devin, the former Lake Stevens standout, but Hein said Stoen’s selflessness this season has been just as impactful.

“I would say the path (Dylin) chose has left its mark equally so on our program,” Hein said. “It’s really cool how it’s played out.”