The Clackamas print., February 07, 2018, Page 7, Image 7

SPORTS
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photo by Sam Weston
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Students of Clackamas Community College
may not realize it, but the Cougars’ men’ s
basketball team is coached by a legendary
cOach, Clif Wegner.
Wegner has won ov$r 440 games as a
junior college basketball coach- Along the
way, he has won four NW AC Championships
(1994 as "an assistant, and 2007, 2009,
2010 as head coach). Wegner has also won
seven Southern Region Cham pionships,
been named Southern Region Coach of the
Year five times (2001, 2003, 2007, 2009,
2011) and been the NWAC Coach of the Year
three times (2007, 2009, 2011). He was the
first coach to win 20 games at M t. Hood
Com m unity. College in alm ost a decade.
Wegner coached at MHCC from 1995*1998,
becoming interim head coach in 1997- After
his time at MHCC, Wegner returned to CCC
to succeed NWAC Hall of Fame coach, Royce
Kiser. W ith all of his success coaching
basketball it ’ s hard to believe Wegner
started his life as an underdog, presumed
dead by the doctor on the day he was born.
"(The doctor! comes out to the waiting
room and tells my dad ‘ Mr. Wegner I’m sorry
but we haven’t been able to detect a fetal
heartbeat for 25 minutes, and we’re afraid
that the baby is dead,” said Wegner. " If
you believe in prayer, you should probably
be praying because your wife (has a 50/50
Chance of surviving!.” /
Shortly after the doctor announced to
Wegner, that the baby may be lost, a nurse
rushed out of the birthing room to inform
the doctor they had a fetal heartbeat.
"The cord was wrapped around my neck,”
said Wegner. "My mom said I was colored
deep purple, and I looked like a little alien
or som ething.” ,
On Jan. 16, 1953, C lif Wegner was born
to C liff and Celeste Wegner. Wegner was a
Navy World War II Veteran, Celeste D’ asaro
was the daughter of Italian im m igrants.
W egner’ s parents met in Inglew ood,
. California after the war was over.
"My mom’ s parents, brothers, and sister
didn’t like him at first because he was so
different than any other boy my Mom had
dated before,” said W egner. "He drank,
he smoked, he cussed, he was wild, and he
drove, fast. He was the opposite of what they
had picked o u t.”
( m
sss
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J C liff and Celeste got married soon after
ln e e tin g ,;and eventually moved to Westfir,
^Oregon, a logging town where most of the
' residents worked in the saw m ill,and did
not|have an excess o f income. Kids would
spend ¿ours outdoors"hunting and fishing or
playing whatever sport was in-season, said
Wegner. It was in thattsmall town where
Wegner Would eventually fall in love with
basketball.
On March 21, 1964, on an old b lack-
and-white television, 11-year-old Wegner
watched UCLA defeat Duke ip the NCAA
University Division Basketball Tournament
(more com m only know n as "M arch
Madness” ).
“ I was mesmerized by what I watched,”
said Wegner. "It was the most beautiful
thing watching how the players worked
together. I think I fell in love with college
basketball in that instance.”
“ When it ’s all said and
done, I guess we’ll add
up all the wins and losses
and see i f anyone thinks I
deserve that.”
- C l i f Wegner
A fter high school, W egner attended
Western Oregon University, where he played
three years of baseball and four years of
basketball. Shortly after graduating, Wegner
landed his first paid coaching job as head
coach of the g irl’ s basketball team at
Willamina High School in 1976.
After his time at Willamina, Wegner moved
on to Oregon City High School and turned
a perennial loser into a powerhouse. In a
three year span, Wegner took the Pioneers
from worst to first in the state, but in 1993
Measure 5 passed, and the budget cuts took
its toll on the basketball program. Wegner
lost all of his assistant coaches, and decided
to resign from Oregon City. He was offered
an assistant coaching job at CCC.
Now in his forty-second season as a coach,
Wegner admits the game of basketball has
changed for the better, with the additions
of the three^-point line and shot clock, but
believes the players have m ostly stayed
the same with a few exceptions. Wegner
said he noticed that the players he coaches Iff
are seeing more of a disconnect with social
interactions in favor o f interactions via
social media, which he believes is hurting
skills like team sm anship. But as far as
basketball skills go, the players are better
—
than the best when he played.
As far as music culture, players agree the
coach is fallin g behind, still listening to
Jackson Browne and The Eagles.
"He tries here and there, but he hates
our m usic,” said sophomore guard Briggs
Young. "He won’t even listen to it, but then
out of nowhere he’ ll pull off his own raps;
we’ll be out, and he’ll bust a random rap.
So it’s pretty funny in that way.”
But the music culture gap isn ’t hurting
Wegner’ s relationship with players.
" O ff the court h e’ s real h e lp fu l,” said
sophomore guard Nygil Carr. “ We always
talk about little stuff, like how I’ m away
from home or if I’ m going through some
stu ff he’s always there to talk me through
it. The coaches back in Houston care, but
he cares at a different level. Not just about
basketball, but about my outside life .”
In 20 seasons at C C C , W egner is the
w inningest coach in program history.
Associate head coach Brian Stamme believes
Wegner is notched for the NWAC Hall of
Fame, but Wegner isn’ t worried about his
legacy right now.
“ Right now I’ m just enjoying coaching,”
said Wegner. "When it’ s all said and done,
I guess we’ll add up all the wins and losses
and see if anyone thinks I deserve that.
When you start thinking about things like
that I think you’re kind of done. I think when
you talk about what you’ve accomplished
more than what you want to accomplish
this season, I think you’re done.”
Outside of basketball, Wegner enjoys
playing guitar and singing at open-m ic
nights. He still loves camping and fishing
and credits his admiration for nature to his
childhood in Westfir.
If
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theclackam asprint.net
February 7, 2018