P R IN T:
Sports
Wednesday,Nov.21,2012
Standards set high by Cougar basketball coach
Taylor Oster
The Clackamas Print
Respected head coach o f
the m en’s basketball team ait
Clackamas Community College,
CUf W egner had it all planned out,
or s o it seemed. W egner grew.'up
in Oakridge, Ore., a small town
southeast o f Eugene.
He studied mostly humanities,
British and American literature,
education, speech', and philoso
phy at Western Oregon University
(also studying. some at Portland
State and Linfield) where he
played competitively on die bas
ketball team as guard and as a
member o f the baseball team.
Wegner grew up with a love for
all sports, naturally having a c@m-
petitive and hard-driven personal
ity. Thinking he had his future
planned out, he graduated from
college intending to go to law
school and pursue a legal career,
Helping people is in W egner’s
nature and becoming a lawyer
would-have given him die chance
to do that;
‘T wanted to fight for people’s
rights, ensuring them fair treat
ment and justice,” said Wegner.
After W egner chose to teach
and coach basketball for a year, he
realized that making a difference
in young people’s lives is- how
he wanted to live in the coming
years. ’
H e taught 32 years o f high
school English, humanities and
Am erican literature. He -""also
coached 17 years at the high
school level, including a stint at
Oregon City High School.
"In 1988 and 1989, his teams
achieved the No. 1 ranking in
state, won back to back Three
i R iv e rs' League championships,
and captured third at the 4A state
tournament. Overall, W egner has
36 years o f coaching experience
and an extensive list o f accom
plishments?
Wegner has a career collegiate
■ record o f 334 wins and 110 losses,
with a winning percentage o f 75
percent. Wegner has been hon
ored b y peers as Southern Division
Coach o f the Year in 2001, 2003,
2007, 2009 and 2011 and as
NW AACC Coach o f the Year in
2007, 2009 and 2010.
W egner makes a difference in
the lives of. his athletes and power
fully encourages them to be the
best student athletes they can be.
He doesn’t just stop at building the
athletes’ talent but also supports
them in their educational studies.
The team maintains an overall
exceptional GPA. -
W egner’s frue passion for bas
ketball came in March 1964 when
he watched John W ooden and
UCLA win the national champi
onship.
He was “mesmerized” by the
w ay they played basketball with
passion, precision and unity.
W egner “fell in love with basket
ball” during that game. It cement
ed college basketball as his all-
time favorite sport.
Currently W egner is in his 14th-
season at Clackamas Community
College; he and his team have
started o ff the year with a record o f
1-1. W egner is a m an with a posi
tive attitude and the desire to make
a difference in the world, starting
with the lives o f student athletes.
He strives to show up every day
and d o th eb e st job he can and five
years from now he hopes to have
five more championships.
Clif Wegner
Fun Fac ts:
FavoriteNBA
teams: Portland.
Miami, Oklahoma
City, the L i Clip
pers and L.A. Lak-
erv.
Hobbies: listen to
music; watch old
movies, live theatre,
work out, read,
spending time with
his wife Ruth and
his dog Henry
Above: Men’s basketball head coach C lif Wegner is entering his 14th
season at Clackamas Community College. Wegner has won more than
75 percent o f his games on hisway to three NWAACC championships.
Below: Clackamas’ Jordan Barber hits a pretty step back jumper in the
Cougars 69-65 loss against Bellevue on Sunday at Randall Gym.
SophomorewingBrock Lutes (No. IS) gets ready to dish the ball as the Bellevue defense clamps down on his drive.
Sophomore post Jordan Barber (No. 22) was the beneficiary o f a nice pass on his roti to the hoop.'
the game with two free throws for
the final margin. Bellevue head
coach Jeremy Eggers loves play
ing tough opponents early in the
season.
“If w e’re going to get better,
we got to play better players,” said
Eggers. “That’s why I wanted to
play this game, to seew here jye
were at. .Did I think this wodld.be
the outcome? No.”
Bellevue played most o f the
game with atallestplayer o f 6-foot-
3, but it didn’t matter in the end.
“It’s not the size, it’s how hard
you play,” , said Eggers. “Size
doesn’t matter to me. I know the
saying is you can’t coach height, but
you also can’t coach heart, and we
have a lot o f heart.”
The teams went back and forth
during an entertaining first half,
before settling for a 35-35 tie at the
break. Bellevue built a 10-point
lead with seven minutes re m a in in g ,
Andrew Millbrooke
Sports Editor
Clackamas Community College
men’s basketball team couldn’t hold
on to a late lead against Bellevue,
as the Bulldogs stole a 69-65 vic-
tory on Sunday at Randall gym.
Bulldogs .freshman guard Andrew
Holloway drove inside and hit a
tough, off-balance shot to give
Bellevue a65-63 lead with a little
over one minute remaining, then
stole the ball on the Cougars next
possession, putting Clackamas in a
huge hole.
The Bulldogs missed two o f four
foul shots down the stretch, but
Clackamas was denied a tying or
winning basket in the final minute
o f this early season matchup o f
two o f the NWAACC’s top teams.
Bellevue’s Reggie Clinton closed
but Clackanjas erased it with a 13-3
run’ o f its own to' even the score,
leading to the exciting finish.
Bellevue coach Eggers was
impressed with what he saw out o f
Clackamas. “You didn’t see them
slap a beat, regardless o f who came
in the game,” said Eggers. “That,
bodes well for them in league play.”
| Six-foot-two guard Andrew
Squires led Bellevue with a game-
high 26 points and a team-high nine
rebounds, making 10 o f 13 foul
shots; Exciting and athletic 6-foot-2
freshman Daniel Greer was all over
the court on both ends, f in is h in g
with 15 points and 6 rebounds for
the Bulldogs.
Clackamas was led by fresh
man Michone Hopkins 17 points,
six rebounds and five assists.
Sophomore Brock Lutes added 11
points and a game-high 10 rebounds
and Sophomore Kirby Hawkins
added 15 points and four rebounds.
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WEDNESDAY
WH
• NBA: Portland
at Phoenix, 6 p m ,
CSN and KEX
• H ockey:
Vancouver at
Portland, 7 p,m.
Rose Garden
THURSDAY11/22
FHMY-1V21
• N FL Fo o tb all:
• Houston at Détroit,
9:30 a.m on CBS
I
« Washington at
Dallas, 1:15 p.m.
• New England at
NY Jets, 5:20 p.m.
• CCC W om en’s
B ask etb all:
' Thanksgiving
Invitational, 1 p.m.
• CCC M en’s
B ask etb all: Skagit
Valley Cold Turkey
Tournament, at Mt
Vernon, Wash. S p :.m.
J -fT f
SATURDAY11/24
SUNDAY 11/25
MONDAY-lf/26
TUESDAY-11/27
• C ivil W ar
Football: Oregon '
at Oregon State
■
Noon,
on the
Pac-12 Network
• NBA: Portland at
Brooklyn, Noon
on CSN and KEX
• R an dall Fitn e ss
C e n te r: 8:30-10
a.m. and 1-6 pm .
• R andall Fitn e ss
C e n te r: Noon-8
p.m.
• H oo key: Portland
at Seattle, 7 pan. !
• NFL: Seattle at
- Miami, 10 a.m.
on Fox
• NFL: Carolina at
Philadelphia "
8 5:30 pm . '
IL
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