May 14, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - When the committee in charge of finding the next head coach of the Wasilla High School boys basketball program asked Ryan Engebretsen why he is the right candidate for the job, the longtime Colony High School assistant had a simple, but straight forward answer.

ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman Ryan Engebretsen stands at center-court in the Wasilla High School gymnasium. After more than seven years with the Colony High School boys basketball program, Engebretsen has accepted the position of head coach of the Wasilla High School boys basketball program.

“He said, ‘I'm ready. I'm ready for this',” Wasilla assistant principal Dan Michael said. “He had us believing that for sure.”

Engebretsen not only said he was ready, he showed the committee made up of school administrators and community members that he is prepared to take the position.

At his interview, Engebretsen arrived with a white three-ring binder.

The inside was already full of notes and information.

On the cover was a label that read, �-2008 Wasilla boys' basketball.”

Down in the lower right hand corner read a name, “Coach Engebretsen.”

On Friday, Engebretsen walked into that interview prepared to become the next boys basketball coach at WHS.

On Monday, Engebretsen walked into Wasilla High School as the new head coach of the Wasilla boys basketball program.

“The committee was very sold on Mr. Engebretsen,” Michael said. “That's for sure.”

Engebretsen, also a sixth-grade teacher at Teeland Middle School, replaces former head coach Jason Marvel, who left the program in April after leading the Warriors to the large-schools state championship the month before.

Michael said he sees Engebretsen and Marvel as two different people, but there are similarities between the new Warrior mentor and the coach who led Wasilla to five trips to the state tournament in his five seasons as head coach.

“I think they both believe in character, and they both have a total commitment to the game,” Michael said. “We want to be competitive, but we want to as many kids to get involved and have a positive experience as possible. That's the real goal, and I think (Engebretsen) is going to be very good at that.”

Engebretsen said he's eager to start where Marvel left off.

“I like what they've established here,” Engebretsen said. “I like the pride they've built up as a school, and the program that's been established here. I hope I can continue that.”

To accept the position as head coach of the Warrior program, Engebretsen is leaving a Colony High School boys basketball team that he spent more than seven years with as an assistant coach.

For the last four years, Engebretsen has served on Colony head coach Jeff Bowker's staff. Before that Engebretsen shared the Colony bench with his older brother Phil, a former head coach at CHS.

After spending so much time within the Colony program, Engebretsen admitted leaving is tough.

“It was a very hard decision,” Engebretsen said. “But I love the Valley, and there are not many opportunities that arise here.”

Once Engebretsen discussed the opportunity with those close to him - most notably his wife and two daughters, ages 4 and 8 - he decided the position was something he would pursue.

“Once everybody was on the same page, I thought this is a place I could see myself,” Engebretsen said.

Prior to his work at CHS, Engebretsen spent time as a coach in both Maryland and Colorado.

A native of Homer, Engebretsen went to Mesa State College in Colorado to play basketball for the Division II program. But in an effort to complete his degree requirements at a more rapid pace, Engebretsen said he opted to work within the Mesa State men's basketball program, rather than playing college hoops. That experience proved to be very important to him.

“I walk into everything looking at it from the college perspective,” Engebretsen said.

Engebretsen has spent most of his life on or around a basketball court. One of his first memories, he said, is playing basketball with one of his older brothers.

He was 3 years old.

Spending that much time around the game - his last seven years as an assistant - the natural progression for Engebretsen was to became a head coach.

“After two or three years of getting the itch, I finally felt like I was ready,” Engebretsen said. “I've gone through the motions, worked really well with Bowker and had a great mentor in Bowker and my older brother.”

The Colony program Engebretsen grew as a coach in has historically been known for a particular style of basketball, centered around aggressive play and tough defense. While he will certainly take things he learned from his experience at Colony, Engebretsen does not expect to put a reincarnated version of the Knights on the floor at WHS.

“You learn certain things, but you also want to find your niche,” Engebretsen said. “You take things from here, and take things from there.”

Engebretsen did say he likes to move the ball up and down the floor, and play a lot of man-to-man defense.

But he knows personnel plays a big factor in gameplan.

Also important he said, is using basketball to build character.

“You want to know you're sending a kid out for the rest of his life with positive attributes,” Engebretsen said.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.