April 10, 2025 • 33 mins
Tim Cates sits down with longtime high school basketball coach and current Mater Dei HS Athletic Director Kevin Kiernan. Over his coaching career he has won 900 games, 12 CIF-SS titles, 6 CIF-State championshps and 2 National Championships in girls basketball. Kevin helped build the girls basketball program at Troy HS and has spent the last 17 years at Mater Dei where in 2024 he was named the WBCA National GBB HS Coach of the Year. Kevin has had many players go on to play college basketball and has seen several former players make it to the WNBA. Since 2021, Kevin has been serving as Athletic Director at Mater Dei, overseeing one of the biggest brands in high school sports.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Forty years as a basketball coach, national championships, state championships,
CIF Southern Section championships. He's been the coach of the
Year in the state of California and the national Coach
of the Year. And he's taken over at Troy High
School next year, going back to where it all started.
He is Kevin Keerdon and he joins us now on
(00:22):
episode eighty of the Masters in Coaching Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Let's go Well, welcome into.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Episode eighty of the Masters in Coaching Podcast here on
iHeartRadio wherever you listen to your podcast. We are so
excited to talk to this week's guest. We've talked a
lot of coaches and administrators here on the Masters and
Coaching Podcast over the last four plus years here on iHeartRadio,
and here we are at episode number eighty. He's one
of the best and winning his basketball coaches in the
(00:51):
state of California. He's the states all time leader in
wins and girls basketball with over nine hundred wins. Early
in his coaching career, he built Troy High School into
a powerhouse. He then coached at Cyprus College. He's been
at Modern Day for seventeen seasons. Retired but he's been
athletic director in the last couple of years and now
coming out of retirement and returning to Troy High School.
(01:13):
He is Kevin Certon and he joins us here on
the Masters and Coaching Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Kevin, Welcome, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Thank you glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So you retired from coaching, but now you're coming back
to coaching.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
What happened, Well, I didn't coach this year, so I
retired at the end of last season, and I was
athletic director and coach, and I just continued on in
the athletic director position, which is a big position here
at modern day man's a lot of time and so
doing both was crushing me. So, you know, decide to
(01:46):
step back. Had some health issues, had a system my
vocal cords the past couple of years, and it was
really hard to communicate the way I want to communicate.
Had surgery this summer at the UCI Medical Center. Shout
out to that guy who did that. He did a
great job. I can talk. So I you know, this
year off kind of showed me I want to coach.
(02:06):
My window is short. I'm sixty five, so my window
of getting back into coaching is tight. So I decided,
you know, time to retire from the ad, and then
Troy positioned, opened up and decided to go back where
it started.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
What does that mean to you to go back to Troy,
as you said, where it started.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, it's you know, I had eleven great years at Troy,
and you know, the reason I left Troy was because
of a fantastic opportunity to here at Modern Day and
Modern Day is a fantastic school and I've loved every
minute of it. And I loved every minute I was
at Troy, and so you know, I don't want to coach,
(02:45):
you know, I didn't want to coach here at Modern
Day anymore, you know, because we hired a great coach
and Jody Wynn, who's fantastic, and we're in a really
good spot here, and I just wanted to coach at
a high school where I felt comfortable with and that
is rebuilding, and they are definitely re building. You know,
they're kind of hit some hard times girls' basketball wives,
(03:05):
but it's a huge challenge and I'm excited by it
and my comfort level with Troy that there's still a
lot of teachers there that were there eighteen years ago.
The athletic director of Troy Chris Bloom has been awesome
with me, and so it's just a comfort level for me.
You know, It's not like starting a new job, it's
like restarting an old job. So if that makes kind
(03:28):
of sense.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, you took the year off from coaching to do
the athletic director full time without having to do both,
and you kind of slid into that role as athletic
director a couple of years ago. Was that something that
you pursued was in an opening that they came to
you and said, we need some leadership in this spot
at the school at a certain time. How did that
(03:49):
all come about for you to take that role and wanting.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
To take that role?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, I was coaching and I was an English teacher
here for fourteen years Freshman English, which I totally enjoyed.
English department is awesome. Yeah, they hit some hard times.
You know, I'm a pretty organized guy, and admin thought,
you know, maybe you would you know, have the you
know abilities to be an admin and would you ever
(04:15):
think about that? And so I was thinking about it
and they kind of gave me some some partial duties,
not full time duties, just some added duties to my
schedule athletic director kind of stuff. And then you know,
a couple of hires didn't go right for them, and
you know, we had some issues here in the athletic
department and they needed some help. And there's good people here,
(04:36):
there's you know, more experience than I was at the time,
but they put me in kind of just kind of
to try to stabilize the situation. I have a really
good rapport with the coaches, I think, and you know,
my idea of a really good athletic director as someone
who supports coaches, and that's always been my philosophy the
last three or four years. And you know, with the
help of really good associate ads, I've got great people
(04:57):
up here. You know, we've kind of stabilized things. I
think we're in a really good spot athletically. All our
sports are doing pretty well, the kids are doing great.
You know, we're really proud of everybody here. So I
think it's a good time to step up. I've never
really wanted to do it. Wasn't my mission in life
to be an athletic director, Like you said, I kind
of slid into it. I kind of just wanted to
(05:19):
help the school because the school's been good to me,
and I love the people I work with here and
they're all great people. So it was just it just
made sense for me and in sense to leave at
this time because I think we're in a good spot
and I think we have some talented people who work
with me who are going to just take over and
be great.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You hired a football coach in your time as athletic
director and Raal Laura, and he brings I think the
word that from the outside looking in, maybe some discipline
to a football program and a school that maybe kind
of something you were looking for in a head coach maybe.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Is that kind of accurate?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, very accurate. And I did have a hand in
helping coach get coach coach Laura here. Our president Mike
Brendan had a huge hand in that he had worked
with him before at St. Anthony's High School. It was
really a no brainer for us. We have a really
talented staff of football coaches here, uh, and we have
really talented players and they needed someone who could kind
(06:18):
of set the bar h discipline wise and and and
high standards of behavior. And I have to give the
kids a lot of credit along with coach Laura kids
responded to it this year. Not only were they outstanding
on the field, they've been outstanding on campus and in
the classroom. And you know, I give coach a lot
of credit and I give the kids a lot of
(06:39):
credit because you know, we we were having issues, we
were having issues I won't lie to you, uh in
the previous year. And he steadied the vote and kept
it from a roccing and he kept winning and uh,
you know he's in a really good spot right now.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Did you feel any pressure taking over that role in
administration and as lethletic director is you know, a lot
of eyes are on Modern Day High School. It's a
powerhouse and a lot of sports at the high school level.
Nationally it's a national brand. Now, did it come with
any pressure?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, a lot of pressure. And you're right about the
keyword you said, right there is the brand. You know,
the brand is really big here and it's important to
the school and it's something that we take pride and
ownership in and you know, we want to project a
really good image and a really good brand because it's
important to us. So yeah, there's a lot of pressure
being an athletic director at Modern Day you kind of
(07:33):
can't think about it about it because you brought it up.
You know, you just kind of go about your day
supporting coaches, working hard, getting to events, you know, dealing
with the issues that come up. You know, my time
here as an athletic director, I found that you're really
like a fireman. You're putting out fires every day. You know,
either things just pop up, parent issue, player issue, cif issue,
(07:58):
you really don't know. Really foolish if you come in
every day and you have your day planned out by
the letter and then it all blows up at eight
thirty and you're doing something you didn't expect, you never
thought you'd be doing the day before. So you've got
to be ready to be you know, flexible, be ready
to pivot to anything. And you're gonna have to handle
(08:18):
a lot of confrontation. There's a lot of uncomfortable situations
that you have to deal with and that's not fun
all the time. But it is challenging. But you're right,
it's it's a lot on people's shoulders to be ad here.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I want to go back to you get into coaching
Kevin and the long road that you've had coaching the
league titles, the Southern section titles, the state titles, the
national Coach of the Year awards, the national championships that
you've won. Let's go back to how it all started
for you and why you wanted to get into coaching
in the first place.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, that's that's well. I've been coaching for forty years now,
so it's been a long road. And again I've worked
with great players and great assistance. I have not done
this myself. It's been a journey. And I have a
great family who's all basketball. My wife's a head coach Concordia.
I have three girls who all play. My son graduated
(09:13):
from Concordia and he played at Troy. So, yeah, I
was going to be a sports writer. I came out
of college, you know, wanting to be a sports writer,
played basketball, and I was working as a part time
sports writer at the Orange County Register and the old
Anaheim Bulletin. I don't think that exists anymore either, doing
(09:36):
high school football games, you know, working on the night shift,
working on the agate board, putting in schedules and scores,
and you know, that's kind of what I went to
school for, major in journalism at the University of Minnesota,
and I didn't really like the hours. I didn't like
the lifestyle. It was kind of really sedentary to me,
you know, I didn't want to do that. And I said,
(09:56):
you know, I really miss playing. I really miss you know,
being part of a team. And so I got into coaching.
I took my first real full time coaching. I was
a girls basketball coach at Lakeith, the High School in Westminster,
and worked for a guy named Jim Perry, great athletic director,
(10:17):
boys basketball coach there. Had had a lot of success
there and had a great time. And you know that
that got me going and then never I've never looked
back since forty years straight, and this is the first
year and forty years that I haven't haven't coached a team.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
When you got into coaching and you knew that you
had the coaching bug and you were going to be
in this for the long haul, what were some of
your early goals as a coach, the mindset you obviously
hear about the young coaches.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
I got to win.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
It's all about the w's. I don't care how we
get to the w's. I got to be successful and
establish myself. And then as the years go on, it's
about building that foundation of a program character and building
that that base for a program that's kind of can
tinue to be successful long term. Initially, what were some
of those goals, What were some of those mindsets for
(11:05):
a young coach Kevin?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, well, I mean, you know what the first thing
I do is I would not let a young coach
Kevin coach. I look back then, and if I could
go back and talk to myself, calm down, Calm down, keV.
I mean I was really intense, you know, really passionate
about it. And you know, I, like you said, the
coaching bug hit. It bit me hard, and I was
(11:28):
really one hundred percent in and you know, live in
and die in with every possession and uh, you know,
just over the top intense. And then you know it
worked for me because it's you know, the biggest thing
I've learned in coaching and observing coaches and being a
coach is you have to be true to your personality.
(11:49):
If you're coaching against the grain of your personality, it'll
come false and players recognize that right away. You have
to be you, for better or worse. You have to
be you, and you have to have your charisma or
your coaching style. You have to lay it out there
and it will be accepted no matter what it is,
as long as you're true to yourself. So, you know,
(12:12):
I was very intense back then, and you know, as
I've grown older, I have calmed down and realized, you know,
I can accomplish the same things that I want to accomplish,
you know, winning or whatever it is we're trying to accomplish,
you know, by being a little more diplomatic, a little
more professional, and its skewed towards for me. It's gone
(12:34):
from you know, just trying to build a team to
be successful and win, to help players develop and get
where they want to go. If you're doing the right
thing every day and you're helping players develop and get
better on a daily basis, then the good stuff's going
to happen. It's going to be a byproduct of what
you do every day. So you're not forcing this on them.
You know, we're gonna win, We're gonna win. You got
(12:56):
to do this this player development focus. I'm getting kids
better every day, working hard, having high standards. But when
you do that and the kids will respond, and that's
the byproduct, you'll be successful. So I've learned to slow
down a little bit, Calm down a little bit, you know,
build the culture I want to build. But player development
(13:20):
is key. Player development is key for me right now?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Is that hard to instill in young women, young men
coaching them and their parents that at the ninth, tenth, eleventh,
twelfth grade level, we're going to develop your son or daughter,
We're going to develop them. The team's going to grow,
it's gonna beneficial for everybody in hopes to turn it
into wings. But in the era we're in now, it's like, well,
I want my kid to get a scholarship. I want
(13:45):
my kid to get thirty points. I want my kid
to get all the shots. It's my kid, my kid.
And if we're not happy here, we're going somewhere else.
Is that hard now to preach development to a kid
because it is so important, but the message sometimes isn't
received by certain people.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Almost impossible now. And you know, I feel bad for
young coaches who are just getting into this right now
because it's almost a lose lose situation for them. You know,
when we hire a young coach, we try to mentor
them here because they're going to have so many issues
and so much blowback from parents. Not getting exactly what
(14:19):
they want exactly when they want it. Sometimes, you know,
kids are on different journeys on this. Sometimes a kid
comes in as a freshman, it all works out for
them and everything works out right away and it's great.
Sometimes it takes some kids two three years to learn
how to you know, do things the way not only
the coach wants to do, but learn how to process
it themselves and get to the point where they want
(14:40):
to go. Whether it's strength, whether it's a comfort level,
whether it's IQ, or it's just whether it's just getting
along with the other players on the team. It takes time.
And now you don't have that time you hit it
on the if you know, it's a give me, give
me now, or I'm out of here kind of world.
And that's really hard to navigate as a coach. Bggest
(15:00):
thing is I've always been had my most fun years
is when the outside, the parents or administrators, whoever's outside
your coaching circle and your team trust you. So when
they have that trust in me, like coach, I trust
you what you're going to do with my kid and
the finished product, that's always been the most fun thing
(15:22):
because that usually ends up in a more successful pattern.
When the trust isn't there, it's really hard to be
successful because they're always one second away from second guessing,
pulling the kid or like you said, just you know,
picking up and going in. And I don't know if
that's going to change in the way the world we're
(15:42):
in right now. So it makes being a If I'm
a twenty two year old coach getting in the high
school basketball coaching, it's a tough road, you know, And
I've done it, and I would recommend it, and I
would always want to mentor someone who wanted to do that,
but I would also be fearful, and I would be
transparent and honest and saying this is a tough road.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
What we often hear, you know, people ask, well, how
winning is one thing, but being a constant winner and
having a program that is successful for long stretches and years,
and you've been successful at the different stops you've been at,
and the questions I get.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Well, how is that possible?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
How do you maintain success for so many years as
kids come and go?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And is the play kind of changes and.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Styles play and the error has changed with parents and players.
And we've just talked about how do you maintain a
winning program is something that I know a lot of
young coaches are curious.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Yeah, well, good players help. I've always been blessed with having,
you know, really good players and good assistant coaches. But
you know, you have to have your and I hesitate
to call it a system. I have a way I
want to play. I have a vision of how I
want to play basketball and how I want my teams
to play, and I bring that to every team I coach.
(16:59):
But I'm also flexible enough to know that if i
have seven girls who are five foot five and under,
I'm going to play different than when I have seven
girls who are six foot two and over and after,
so I incorporate different styles in my system. But I
have a vision of how I want to play, and
I have that that vision is consistent year and in
(17:20):
year out. People know what they're going to get with me.
There's no surprise like, oh, I want to play for
coach Kiartan, and I was really surprised. I didn't think
he was like that. I'm an open book. I'm very transparent,
and I will tell you exactly how I'm going to
play and and what my program is going to look
like and how I'm going to work for your kid
and help them develop. So I think if you're upfront, honest,
(17:41):
and transparent with people, you have a better chance. It
doesn't work all the time because some people are unreasonable
and you just you know, you can't reason with unreasonable people.
That never works, even though we always try. But I
think just consistency within your message, you know, transparency and
a willingness to tell the truth and not lie to
(18:03):
people or just do you know, trick them into staying.
You know, just be honest and just try to project
your vision and let people know what you want to do.
And it helps to have had success. You know, it's
easier for me right now because you know, going to Troy,
people think, well, he's won before, he'll win at Troy.
There's really nothing. There's only a few players left from
(18:26):
last year's team at Troy and they were twelve and
nineteen last year, so there's no guarantee that this season
will win at Troy. But I'm coming in with my
vision and how I want to help the kids who
are left get better and whatever kids come in get better.
And I think that once we do that, I think
when they buy into what my vision is and trust
(18:48):
that it works. And my record says that I think
will be better than people think. So it's a process.
But again it goes right back to the conversation we
had before. Do the people you're working with trust you?
Does your ADMIN trust you? Do they believe in your vision?
And if they don't believe in your vision, why did
they hire you? So I mean, that's that's things that
(19:09):
you have to You can't change your way of thinking
about how you want to run a program and cater to,
you know, what someone else wants you to do. You
have to be true to yourself again, consistent, and then
I think you have a really good chance of being successful.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I love that I used a word challenge, and maybe
it's not the right word to use, but taking over
at Troy again, you mentioned they were twelve to nineteen
last year, not a lot of returners.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
For you, you.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Know, coach, as long as you have is this a challenge?
You're you're looking forward to something different going in and
all right, kind of get my hands dirty here and
let's let's go, let's let's figure this out, let's let's
build this thing again.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, you know, and and like I've had a year
the last year off from coaching, so I'm really ready
to do a lot. Yeah, and even the previous year
or two h you know, my ability to communicate was
limited and I leaned on my assistant coaches a lot
my last year to modern day, and then this year
didn't coach at all. So I'm really really ready to
(20:10):
dive in and you know, do what it takes. And
you know, I'm excited about the process. I'm excited about
the challenge. Like I said, I you know, I think
I've matured over the years, and it's not win at
all costs, you know, mentality for me, it's more get
these kids that I have here in front of me
the best that they can be, develop these kids in
(20:31):
front of me to the best players they can be,
and kind of incorporate what I want to see done,
and then the byproduct of that will be successful. Maybe
ten wins, maybe twenty wins. Maybe you see I have championship,
maybe a league championship, or maybe they'll win seven games,
but they played as well as they could. Success comes
in so many different shapes and sizes, and you know,
(20:53):
you don't know what the package is going to look like,
but you know, I'm excited about what level of success
will be to get there.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Your family's a coaching family. You're a coach. You mentioned
your wife's a coach.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
He's been on the podcast as the coach at Kncordia University, Aravine,
what's that dynamic like at home when you come home,
she comes home? Are you talking x'es and o's? Is
basketball left at the front door? How does that dynamic
work with the family that is a basketball and a
coaching family.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yeah, and I've got two playing right here. I have
a senior and a sophomore who are on the girls
of Ursky basketball team. Here. My daughter's still playing for
my wife at Concordia, So everybody's playing except for my son,
and everybody's so we try not to do it. I mean,
you know, we're all watching basketball at home. The girls
are a big Yukon and Iowa fans, so they were
(21:43):
screening this week as Yukon won the national title. So
it's a lot of fun. But really, the only time Christine,
my wife, and I talk about basketball is when we
kind of leaning each other when things are going tough.
She's having a tough time and needs the vent or
(22:03):
needs to tell, you know, tell me or ask me
some questions about what I would do, and vice versa
if I'm having a tough time coaching or as an
ad you know, so we kind of lean on each
other in terms of stress, in times of rest when
things are going sideways, and they always go sideways at
some point, you know, that's just the way coaching is.
(22:26):
But we don't come home and just talk about basketball day,
you know, otherwise we'd be going down that rabbit hole.
We never yet from what I hear, there's more to
life than basketball. I haven't seen that yet, but from
when I hear.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
That you mentioned Yukon win the national championship just here. Recently,
UCLA here locally was the number one team in the
country and women's basketball for most of the year. There
are two losses going in NCAA tournament. Where's to us
and Juju Watkins And we hear Caitlin Clark's name and
the growth of women's basketball coach from forty years ago
(22:57):
to the last five years, and you know, to see
the level of stars that are there and to where
they're at, you know, not just in the women's world,
but in the sports world, it's pretty fun to see,
isn't in how big it's going to continue to get.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, off the charts. I mean, the growth just in
these last two or three years with the explosion of
Caitlin Clark and what she's met, not just in basketball
but the society. You know, it's just kind of up
ended a lot of things, you know, I mean, and
people are drawn to her and that brings more eyes
to women's basketball, and it's been a great thing. I
don't know why anybody would ever think it's a bad thing,
(23:34):
but yeah, the things I've seen over the last forty
years from where we've come, where the players have come athletically.
You know, when I was at Troy, we had really
good The first time at Troy, we had really good
teams and we won state championships, CI have championships. But
then when I got to Modern Day, we were good,
and it was good at a different level. These kids
were the kids at Troy were really good high school
(23:55):
players and good decent college players. People at modern Day
were Now these are really big time Yukon college players
and WNBA players now. So it's just exploded from then
to then, just going from Troy to moderatey For me,
exploded as far as the level of talent that I
was seeing. And you know, over the past, you know,
(24:15):
twenty years, just a couple of talent. You know, I've
had the honor of coaching in the Jordan Brand All
Star Game and working best players in the country. It
did it last year, and it's incredible how good these
players are and and now the platform that they have
and the ability to one be seen by millions of
people like they should hundreds of people in an old
(24:38):
gym somewhere, and to make money and to profit off
of her abilities, and you know, it's it's awesome and
it's well deserved. And you know, the thing I've always
heard as a woman, as a girls' basketball coach and
a women's basketball coach is coach. I've always been told
you need to help grow the game. Throw the game.
Throw the game. I've heard that for thirty forty years clinics.
(25:00):
I've worked stuff I did for Nike coach help grow
the game. And I think that mentality has served women's
basketball well. I think it was a great message and
I think people have really actually done it. You know,
the game has grown. So I give a lot of
people a lot of credit because there's been a lot
of people who have been behind that growing the game.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
How good is the girls' high school basketball talent in
Southern California over the years and now? Is is it
considered one of the hotbeds of women's basketball.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, and great question, because I will tell you the
CIF Open Division playoffs the last ten years, those eight
teams that usually go to the CIF Open Division to playoffs,
usually three or four of them are in the national
top five rankings. Wow, it's incredible. I've never been through
(25:56):
any tournament end of the year playoff as tough as
those CIF Open Division games with Ediwanda, Sierra Canyon, Modern
Day Winward, you know, Fairmount say, these type of teams.
These teams have just separated themselves. The talent level was
so high. Ediwan has won the national title the past
(26:17):
two years, and but they had to win that Open
Division first. Just going through that gauntlet is incredible. And
the only thing with girls basketball it gets a little
top heavy. You know, the top teams are talented, best
players in the country, especially here in SoCal, but the
levels are there's such a disparity, you know, and then
you'll have you know, high schools that you know can't.
(26:40):
There's some teams modern day would never play because it'd
be and and you don't want to do that. It's
no good for anybody. So the disparity of talent where
the talent aggregates still is top heavy. It aggregates in
certain areas and certain schools, so it's not spread out
as much as it should be. The it is incredible
(27:02):
the amount of talent and so cal.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
You mentioned that top heavy with with girls basketball. You
could say that about all the sports now. It's high
school football, the Trinity League. All the kids want to
get to the Trinity League, high school basketball, you know,
high school baseball. All the kids want to go to
Corona right now, and you know that's the hot bed.
Harvard Westlake was the hot bed for the last ten
years or so. Modern Day's always been really good at baseball. Surveyed, well,
(27:27):
is this just a road where we can never turn
back around and go back and change things? The private
versus public it's a whole long debate. I mean, kids
traveling far to go to private high schools, and you
know the way the Trinity League is compared to other leagues.
You mentioned it in girls basketball how it's top bavy.
It is like that in a lot of sports, and
it just kind of feels like that's the way it's
going to be an open division for for a lot
(27:50):
of the top schools, and it's going to be you know,
Division one really solid and everybody else.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Right. Yeah, Well, you know a great example when I
was at Troy the first time. You know, we we
we we're a top team in Orange County. We beat
Moderate Day, we beat Modern Day, we beat Santa Margarita.
But there's been a shift, uh, you know in the
and I'm a pretty good example of someone who's been
on both sides of the fence, public and private. And
I see the advantages that the private schools have that
(28:17):
we have here at Modern Day. Uh. And I think
once that the ability for private schools like Modern Day
j Sarah, Santa Margarita surveyes, you know, all the all
these top private schools, when we're loyal to all these
great they're all great schools and they're all run by
great people, but I think they were the ability for
(28:38):
them to get students in at a reasonable cost kind
of change things, you know, with more financial aid. We
give out a lot of financial aid here, most of
the private schools do. And when that bridge is kind
of solid solidified. If you're a family and you have
an opportunity to go to a school like this and
(28:58):
it's reasonably priced, it's something your family can do, you're
probably going to take that take that opportunity. Sure O,
don't then go to the local public school. I'm not
saying it's the right decision, but every family has to
do what's right for them, and so I think it's
been an explosion of that, and I think that's why
(29:18):
the private schools have kind of moved to an area
where you know, there's kind of a lack of balance,
you know, competitive equity. But cif I give them credit
that you know they went to the competitive equity model.
You know, they put the top heavy teams in the
open division, kind of separate them from the other divisions.
So if people have a chance of someone like a
(29:40):
public school who win a Division three title and celebrate
that and enjoy that and never forget that moment, and
that's awesome. So I see I have credit. You know,
the competitive agreen model is not flawless, but no system
will ever be flawless. You'll never be able to make
everybody happy. CIF is a thankless job, but I think
they've done a really good job of trying to bridge
(30:02):
the gap. I don't know if I'll ever see in
my lifetime the publics and privates totally split, because I
think some privates would just leave. Why, you know, why
stay with the CIF if you're splitting us up exactly,
I don't know if that will happen. I think that
a lot of people would like to see that happen.
I don't know if it's feasible. Maybe, you know, whatever
(30:23):
works best for people is I'm a supportive of. But
being on both sides of the fence, it's it's uh,
you know, privates do have some You know, my kids
have enjoyed going to Modern Day and my oldest son
enjoyed going to Troy. So I mean, you can, you
can live on both sides of the fence and burt
and do well. It's just every family has their own journey,
and every family has their own decision to make.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
No doubt, we'll wrap it up with this coach. How
long are you going to keep coaching? You're gonna go
to Troy?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
How long are we gonna keep doing this?
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I mean, it feels like you got the energy, you
got the voice back. I mean, you have the knowledge.
I mean, I think we're gonna see this for a
long time.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Well, like I said, I'm sixty five. My windows closing.
You know, hopefully I'll stay Oh you know, hey, sixty
five with sixty five is a new fifty five exactly
all right. I'm still active, you know, work out every
day if I can, staying healthy, you know, as long
as they want me, you know, or until I can't
do it anymore. And you know, hopefully I'll have some
(31:20):
young coaches working with me that I can help out
and kind of guide and you know, give them an
opportunity sometime down the road. But you know, I see
a lot of stuff, you know, my forty years as
an ad and a coach, and you know, you never
know where you pivot and where you turn. Who knows
what will happen. You know, this is an ever changing
landscape out here in Orange County and the world of
(31:40):
sports that you know, so who knows what's in front
of us. But I just take it one day at
a time. And today I'm talking to you.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
That's awesome, coach, Thank you so much for joining us.
It really enjoyed the conversation. Loved hearing about your time
as athletic director and certainly looking back at your hall
of fame career coaching at the high school and college
level boys and girls basketball.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Continued success at Troy and we'll be watching as you
can continue to coach in the years to come.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Thank you appreciate it. Well.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
There he goes Kevin kering in, long time basketball coach
here in southern California. Been at Modern Day nearly twenty
years Troy High School, Cyprus College. Now going back to
Troy High School where it all started nearly four decades
ago for him as the head girls' basketball coach. Great
to catch up with Kevin. He is a mainstay here
(32:30):
in southern California. He and Gary mcnight at Modern Day
High School. I have been doing it a long time
and now Kevin's going back to where it all started at.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Troy High School.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
His wife the head basketball coach of the women's basketball
team at Concordia University Irvine. She's been a guest here
on the Masters in Coaching podcast, and we appreciate Kevin
coming on all the success he has. Great to hear
his model as far as how he builds and maintains
a program like he has for so many years at
the highest of levels and continuing to win, and how
(32:59):
tough it is to coach here in twenty twenty five,
in this day and age, in this culture of sports
and high school sports. Well, thanks to Kevin, Thanks to
you for listening again. The Coaches Conference coming up in
June at Concordia University, Irvine. Find out about that and
the Masters in Coaching Athletics Administration program with all the
different start dates throughout the year at CUI dot edu
(33:21):
slash coaching CUI dot edu slash coaching.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Thanks to Kevin.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Thanks to you for watching and listening to the episode
eighty of the Masters in Coaching podcast.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Now in the books.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Until next time, Tim Kasin, So long everybody,
Forty years as a basketball coach, national championships, state championships,
CIF Southern Section championships. He's been the coach of the
Year in the state of California and the national Coach
of the Year. And he's taken over at Troy High
School next year, going back to where it all started.
He is Kevin Keerdon and he joins us now on
(00:22):
episode eighty of the Masters in Coaching Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Let's go Well, welcome into.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Episode eighty of the Masters in Coaching Podcast here on
iHeartRadio wherever you listen to your podcast. We are so
excited to talk to this week's guest. We've talked a
lot of coaches and administrators here on the Masters and
Coaching Podcast over the last four plus years here on iHeartRadio,
and here we are at episode number eighty. He's one
of the best and winning his basketball coaches in the
(00:51):
state of California. He's the states all time leader in
wins and girls basketball with over nine hundred wins. Early
in his coaching career, he built Troy High School into
a powerhouse. He then coached at Cyprus College. He's been
at Modern Day for seventeen seasons. Retired but he's been
athletic director in the last couple of years and now
coming out of retirement and returning to Troy High School.
(01:13):
He is Kevin Certon and he joins us here on
the Masters and Coaching Podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Kevin, Welcome, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Thank you glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
So you retired from coaching, but now you're coming back
to coaching.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
What happened, Well, I didn't coach this year, so I
retired at the end of last season, and I was
athletic director and coach, and I just continued on in
the athletic director position, which is a big position here
at modern day man's a lot of time and so
doing both was crushing me. So, you know, decide to
(01:46):
step back. Had some health issues, had a system my
vocal cords the past couple of years, and it was
really hard to communicate the way I want to communicate.
Had surgery this summer at the UCI Medical Center. Shout
out to that guy who did that. He did a
great job. I can talk. So I you know, this
year off kind of showed me I want to coach.
(02:06):
My window is short. I'm sixty five, so my window
of getting back into coaching is tight. So I decided,
you know, time to retire from the ad, and then
Troy positioned, opened up and decided to go back where
it started.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
What does that mean to you to go back to Troy,
as you said, where it started.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, it's you know, I had eleven great years at Troy,
and you know, the reason I left Troy was because
of a fantastic opportunity to here at Modern Day and
Modern Day is a fantastic school and I've loved every
minute of it. And I loved every minute I was
at Troy, and so you know, I don't want to coach,
(02:45):
you know, I didn't want to coach here at Modern
Day anymore, you know, because we hired a great coach
and Jody Wynn, who's fantastic, and we're in a really
good spot here, and I just wanted to coach at
a high school where I felt comfortable with and that
is rebuilding, and they are definitely re building. You know,
they're kind of hit some hard times girls' basketball wives,
(03:05):
but it's a huge challenge and I'm excited by it
and my comfort level with Troy that there's still a
lot of teachers there that were there eighteen years ago.
The athletic director of Troy Chris Bloom has been awesome
with me, and so it's just a comfort level for me.
You know, It's not like starting a new job, it's
like restarting an old job. So if that makes kind
(03:28):
of sense.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, you took the year off from coaching to do
the athletic director full time without having to do both,
and you kind of slid into that role as athletic
director a couple of years ago. Was that something that
you pursued was in an opening that they came to
you and said, we need some leadership in this spot
at the school at a certain time. How did that
(03:49):
all come about for you to take that role and wanting.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
To take that role?
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, I was coaching and I was an English teacher
here for fourteen years Freshman English, which I totally enjoyed.
English department is awesome. Yeah, they hit some hard times.
You know, I'm a pretty organized guy, and admin thought,
you know, maybe you would you know, have the you
know abilities to be an admin and would you ever
(04:15):
think about that? And so I was thinking about it
and they kind of gave me some some partial duties,
not full time duties, just some added duties to my
schedule athletic director kind of stuff. And then you know,
a couple of hires didn't go right for them, and
you know, we had some issues here in the athletic
department and they needed some help. And there's good people here,
(04:36):
there's you know, more experience than I was at the time,
but they put me in kind of just kind of
to try to stabilize the situation. I have a really
good rapport with the coaches, I think, and you know,
my idea of a really good athletic director as someone
who supports coaches, and that's always been my philosophy the
last three or four years. And you know, with the
help of really good associate ads, I've got great people
(04:57):
up here. You know, we've kind of stabilized things. I
think we're in a really good spot athletically. All our
sports are doing pretty well, the kids are doing great.
You know, we're really proud of everybody here. So I
think it's a good time to step up. I've never
really wanted to do it. Wasn't my mission in life
to be an athletic director, Like you said, I kind
of slid into it. I kind of just wanted to
(05:19):
help the school because the school's been good to me,
and I love the people I work with here and
they're all great people. So it was just it just
made sense for me and in sense to leave at
this time because I think we're in a good spot
and I think we have some talented people who work
with me who are going to just take over and
be great.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You hired a football coach in your time as athletic
director and Raal Laura, and he brings I think the
word that from the outside looking in, maybe some discipline
to a football program and a school that maybe kind
of something you were looking for in a head coach maybe.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Is that kind of accurate?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, very accurate. And I did have a hand in
helping coach get coach coach Laura here. Our president Mike
Brendan had a huge hand in that he had worked
with him before at St. Anthony's High School. It was
really a no brainer for us. We have a really
talented staff of football coaches here, uh, and we have
really talented players and they needed someone who could kind
(06:18):
of set the bar h discipline wise and and and
high standards of behavior. And I have to give the
kids a lot of credit along with coach Laura kids
responded to it this year. Not only were they outstanding
on the field, they've been outstanding on campus and in
the classroom. And you know, I give coach a lot
of credit and I give the kids a lot of
(06:39):
credit because you know, we we were having issues, we
were having issues I won't lie to you, uh in
the previous year. And he steadied the vote and kept
it from a roccing and he kept winning and uh,
you know he's in a really good spot right now.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Did you feel any pressure taking over that role in
administration and as lethletic director is you know, a lot
of eyes are on Modern Day High School. It's a
powerhouse and a lot of sports at the high school level.
Nationally it's a national brand. Now, did it come with
any pressure?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, a lot of pressure. And you're right about the
keyword you said, right there is the brand. You know,
the brand is really big here and it's important to
the school and it's something that we take pride and
ownership in and you know, we want to project a
really good image and a really good brand because it's
important to us. So yeah, there's a lot of pressure
being an athletic director at Modern Day you kind of
(07:33):
can't think about it about it because you brought it up.
You know, you just kind of go about your day
supporting coaches, working hard, getting to events, you know, dealing
with the issues that come up. You know, my time
here as an athletic director, I found that you're really
like a fireman. You're putting out fires every day. You know,
either things just pop up, parent issue, player issue, cif issue,
(07:58):
you really don't know. Really foolish if you come in
every day and you have your day planned out by
the letter and then it all blows up at eight
thirty and you're doing something you didn't expect, you never
thought you'd be doing the day before. So you've got
to be ready to be you know, flexible, be ready
to pivot to anything. And you're gonna have to handle
(08:18):
a lot of confrontation. There's a lot of uncomfortable situations
that you have to deal with and that's not fun
all the time. But it is challenging. But you're right,
it's it's a lot on people's shoulders to be ad here.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I want to go back to you get into coaching
Kevin and the long road that you've had coaching the
league titles, the Southern section titles, the state titles, the
national Coach of the Year awards, the national championships that
you've won. Let's go back to how it all started
for you and why you wanted to get into coaching
in the first place.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Yeah, that's that's well. I've been coaching for forty years now,
so it's been a long road. And again I've worked
with great players and great assistance. I have not done
this myself. It's been a journey. And I have a
great family who's all basketball. My wife's a head coach Concordia.
I have three girls who all play. My son graduated
(09:13):
from Concordia and he played at Troy. So, yeah, I
was going to be a sports writer. I came out
of college, you know, wanting to be a sports writer,
played basketball, and I was working as a part time
sports writer at the Orange County Register and the old
Anaheim Bulletin. I don't think that exists anymore either, doing
(09:36):
high school football games, you know, working on the night shift,
working on the agate board, putting in schedules and scores,
and you know, that's kind of what I went to
school for, major in journalism at the University of Minnesota,
and I didn't really like the hours. I didn't like
the lifestyle. It was kind of really sedentary to me,
you know, I didn't want to do that. And I said,
(09:56):
you know, I really miss playing. I really miss you know,
being part of a team. And so I got into coaching.
I took my first real full time coaching. I was
a girls basketball coach at Lakeith, the High School in Westminster,
and worked for a guy named Jim Perry, great athletic director,
(10:17):
boys basketball coach there. Had had a lot of success
there and had a great time. And you know that
that got me going and then never I've never looked
back since forty years straight, and this is the first
year and forty years that I haven't haven't coached a team.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
When you got into coaching and you knew that you
had the coaching bug and you were going to be
in this for the long haul, what were some of
your early goals as a coach, the mindset you obviously
hear about the young coaches.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
I got to win.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
It's all about the w's. I don't care how we
get to the w's. I got to be successful and
establish myself. And then as the years go on, it's
about building that foundation of a program character and building
that that base for a program that's kind of can
tinue to be successful long term. Initially, what were some
of those goals, What were some of those mindsets for
(11:05):
a young coach Kevin?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, well, I mean, you know what the first thing
I do is I would not let a young coach
Kevin coach. I look back then, and if I could
go back and talk to myself, calm down, Calm down, keV.
I mean I was really intense, you know, really passionate
about it. And you know, I, like you said, the
coaching bug hit. It bit me hard, and I was
(11:28):
really one hundred percent in and you know, live in
and die in with every possession and uh, you know,
just over the top intense. And then you know it
worked for me because it's you know, the biggest thing
I've learned in coaching and observing coaches and being a
coach is you have to be true to your personality.
(11:49):
If you're coaching against the grain of your personality, it'll
come false and players recognize that right away. You have
to be you, for better or worse. You have to
be you, and you have to have your charisma or
your coaching style. You have to lay it out there
and it will be accepted no matter what it is,
as long as you're true to yourself. So, you know,
(12:12):
I was very intense back then, and you know, as
I've grown older, I have calmed down and realized, you know,
I can accomplish the same things that I want to accomplish,
you know, winning or whatever it is we're trying to accomplish,
you know, by being a little more diplomatic, a little
more professional, and its skewed towards for me. It's gone
(12:34):
from you know, just trying to build a team to
be successful and win, to help players develop and get
where they want to go. If you're doing the right
thing every day and you're helping players develop and get
better on a daily basis, then the good stuff's going
to happen. It's going to be a byproduct of what
you do every day. So you're not forcing this on them.
You know, we're gonna win, We're gonna win. You got
(12:56):
to do this this player development focus. I'm getting kids
better every day, working hard, having high standards. But when
you do that and the kids will respond, and that's
the byproduct, you'll be successful. So I've learned to slow
down a little bit, Calm down a little bit, you know,
build the culture I want to build. But player development
(13:20):
is key. Player development is key for me right now?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Is that hard to instill in young women, young men
coaching them and their parents that at the ninth, tenth, eleventh,
twelfth grade level, we're going to develop your son or daughter,
We're going to develop them. The team's going to grow,
it's gonna beneficial for everybody in hopes to turn it
into wings. But in the era we're in now, it's like, well,
I want my kid to get a scholarship. I want
(13:45):
my kid to get thirty points. I want my kid
to get all the shots. It's my kid, my kid.
And if we're not happy here, we're going somewhere else.
Is that hard now to preach development to a kid
because it is so important, but the message sometimes isn't
received by certain people.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Almost impossible now. And you know, I feel bad for
young coaches who are just getting into this right now
because it's almost a lose lose situation for them. You know,
when we hire a young coach, we try to mentor
them here because they're going to have so many issues
and so much blowback from parents. Not getting exactly what
(14:19):
they want exactly when they want it. Sometimes, you know,
kids are on different journeys on this. Sometimes a kid
comes in as a freshman, it all works out for
them and everything works out right away and it's great.
Sometimes it takes some kids two three years to learn
how to you know, do things the way not only
the coach wants to do, but learn how to process
it themselves and get to the point where they want
(14:40):
to go. Whether it's strength, whether it's a comfort level,
whether it's IQ, or it's just whether it's just getting
along with the other players on the team. It takes time.
And now you don't have that time you hit it
on the if you know, it's a give me, give
me now, or I'm out of here kind of world.
And that's really hard to navigate as a coach. Bggest
(15:00):
thing is I've always been had my most fun years
is when the outside, the parents or administrators, whoever's outside
your coaching circle and your team trust you. So when
they have that trust in me, like coach, I trust
you what you're going to do with my kid and
the finished product, that's always been the most fun thing
(15:22):
because that usually ends up in a more successful pattern.
When the trust isn't there, it's really hard to be
successful because they're always one second away from second guessing,
pulling the kid or like you said, just you know,
picking up and going in. And I don't know if
that's going to change in the way the world we're
(15:42):
in right now. So it makes being a If I'm
a twenty two year old coach getting in the high
school basketball coaching, it's a tough road, you know, And
I've done it, and I would recommend it, and I
would always want to mentor someone who wanted to do that,
but I would also be fearful, and I would be
transparent and honest and saying this is a tough road.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
What we often hear, you know, people ask, well, how
winning is one thing, but being a constant winner and
having a program that is successful for long stretches and years,
and you've been successful at the different stops you've been at,
and the questions I get.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Well, how is that possible?
Speaker 1 (16:19):
How do you maintain success for so many years as
kids come and go?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
And is the play kind of changes and.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Styles play and the error has changed with parents and players.
And we've just talked about how do you maintain a
winning program is something that I know a lot of
young coaches are curious.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Yeah, well, good players help. I've always been blessed with having,
you know, really good players and good assistant coaches. But
you know, you have to have your and I hesitate
to call it a system. I have a way I
want to play. I have a vision of how I
want to play basketball and how I want my teams
to play, and I bring that to every team I coach.
(16:59):
But I'm also flexible enough to know that if i
have seven girls who are five foot five and under,
I'm going to play different than when I have seven
girls who are six foot two and over and after,
so I incorporate different styles in my system. But I
have a vision of how I want to play, and
I have that that vision is consistent year and in
(17:20):
year out. People know what they're going to get with me.
There's no surprise like, oh, I want to play for
coach Kiartan, and I was really surprised. I didn't think
he was like that. I'm an open book. I'm very transparent,
and I will tell you exactly how I'm going to
play and and what my program is going to look
like and how I'm going to work for your kid
and help them develop. So I think if you're upfront, honest,
(17:41):
and transparent with people, you have a better chance. It
doesn't work all the time because some people are unreasonable
and you just you know, you can't reason with unreasonable people.
That never works, even though we always try. But I
think just consistency within your message, you know, transparency and
a willingness to tell the truth and not lie to
(18:03):
people or just do you know, trick them into staying.
You know, just be honest and just try to project
your vision and let people know what you want to do.
And it helps to have had success. You know, it's
easier for me right now because you know, going to Troy,
people think, well, he's won before, he'll win at Troy.
There's really nothing. There's only a few players left from
(18:26):
last year's team at Troy and they were twelve and
nineteen last year, so there's no guarantee that this season
will win at Troy. But I'm coming in with my
vision and how I want to help the kids who
are left get better and whatever kids come in get better.
And I think that once we do that, I think
when they buy into what my vision is and trust
(18:48):
that it works. And my record says that I think
will be better than people think. So it's a process.
But again it goes right back to the conversation we
had before. Do the people you're working with trust you?
Does your ADMIN trust you? Do they believe in your vision?
And if they don't believe in your vision, why did
they hire you? So I mean, that's that's things that
(19:09):
you have to You can't change your way of thinking
about how you want to run a program and cater to,
you know, what someone else wants you to do. You
have to be true to yourself again, consistent, and then
I think you have a really good chance of being successful.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I love that I used a word challenge, and maybe
it's not the right word to use, but taking over
at Troy again, you mentioned they were twelve to nineteen
last year, not a lot of returners.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
For you, you.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Know, coach, as long as you have is this a challenge?
You're you're looking forward to something different going in and
all right, kind of get my hands dirty here and
let's let's go, let's let's figure this out, let's let's
build this thing again.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Yeah, you know, and and like I've had a year
the last year off from coaching, so I'm really ready
to do a lot. Yeah, and even the previous year
or two h you know, my ability to communicate was
limited and I leaned on my assistant coaches a lot
my last year to modern day, and then this year
didn't coach at all. So I'm really really ready to
(20:10):
dive in and you know, do what it takes. And
you know, I'm excited about the process. I'm excited about
the challenge. Like I said, I you know, I think
I've matured over the years, and it's not win at
all costs, you know, mentality for me, it's more get
these kids that I have here in front of me
the best that they can be, develop these kids in
(20:31):
front of me to the best players they can be,
and kind of incorporate what I want to see done,
and then the byproduct of that will be successful. Maybe
ten wins, maybe twenty wins. Maybe you see I have championship,
maybe a league championship, or maybe they'll win seven games,
but they played as well as they could. Success comes
in so many different shapes and sizes, and you know,
(20:53):
you don't know what the package is going to look like,
but you know, I'm excited about what level of success
will be to get there.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Your family's a coaching family. You're a coach. You mentioned
your wife's a coach.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
He's been on the podcast as the coach at Kncordia University, Aravine,
what's that dynamic like at home when you come home,
she comes home? Are you talking x'es and o's? Is
basketball left at the front door? How does that dynamic
work with the family that is a basketball and a
coaching family.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Yeah, and I've got two playing right here. I have
a senior and a sophomore who are on the girls
of Ursky basketball team. Here. My daughter's still playing for
my wife at Concordia, So everybody's playing except for my son,
and everybody's so we try not to do it. I mean,
you know, we're all watching basketball at home. The girls
are a big Yukon and Iowa fans, so they were
(21:43):
screening this week as Yukon won the national title. So
it's a lot of fun. But really, the only time Christine,
my wife, and I talk about basketball is when we
kind of leaning each other when things are going tough.
She's having a tough time and needs the vent or
(22:03):
needs to tell, you know, tell me or ask me
some questions about what I would do, and vice versa
if I'm having a tough time coaching or as an
ad you know, so we kind of lean on each
other in terms of stress, in times of rest when
things are going sideways, and they always go sideways at
some point, you know, that's just the way coaching is.
(22:26):
But we don't come home and just talk about basketball day,
you know, otherwise we'd be going down that rabbit hole.
We never yet from what I hear, there's more to
life than basketball. I haven't seen that yet, but from
when I hear.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
That you mentioned Yukon win the national championship just here. Recently,
UCLA here locally was the number one team in the
country and women's basketball for most of the year. There
are two losses going in NCAA tournament. Where's to us
and Juju Watkins And we hear Caitlin Clark's name and
the growth of women's basketball coach from forty years ago
(22:57):
to the last five years, and you know, to see
the level of stars that are there and to where
they're at, you know, not just in the women's world,
but in the sports world, it's pretty fun to see,
isn't in how big it's going to continue to get.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, off the charts. I mean, the growth just in
these last two or three years with the explosion of
Caitlin Clark and what she's met, not just in basketball
but the society. You know, it's just kind of up
ended a lot of things, you know, I mean, and
people are drawn to her and that brings more eyes
to women's basketball, and it's been a great thing. I
don't know why anybody would ever think it's a bad thing,
(23:34):
but yeah, the things I've seen over the last forty
years from where we've come, where the players have come athletically.
You know, when I was at Troy, we had really
good The first time at Troy, we had really good
teams and we won state championships, CI have championships. But
then when I got to Modern Day, we were good,
and it was good at a different level. These kids
were the kids at Troy were really good high school
(23:55):
players and good decent college players. People at modern Day
were Now these are really big time Yukon college players
and WNBA players now. So it's just exploded from then
to then, just going from Troy to moderatey For me,
exploded as far as the level of talent that I
was seeing. And you know, over the past, you know,
(24:15):
twenty years, just a couple of talent. You know, I've
had the honor of coaching in the Jordan Brand All
Star Game and working best players in the country. It
did it last year, and it's incredible how good these
players are and and now the platform that they have
and the ability to one be seen by millions of
people like they should hundreds of people in an old
(24:38):
gym somewhere, and to make money and to profit off
of her abilities, and you know, it's it's awesome and
it's well deserved. And you know, the thing I've always
heard as a woman, as a girls' basketball coach and
a women's basketball coach is coach. I've always been told
you need to help grow the game. Throw the game.
Throw the game. I've heard that for thirty forty years clinics.
(25:00):
I've worked stuff I did for Nike coach help grow
the game. And I think that mentality has served women's
basketball well. I think it was a great message and
I think people have really actually done it. You know,
the game has grown. So I give a lot of
people a lot of credit because there's been a lot
of people who have been behind that growing the game.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
How good is the girls' high school basketball talent in
Southern California over the years and now? Is is it
considered one of the hotbeds of women's basketball.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Yeah, and great question, because I will tell you the
CIF Open Division playoffs the last ten years, those eight
teams that usually go to the CIF Open Division to playoffs,
usually three or four of them are in the national
top five rankings. Wow, it's incredible. I've never been through
(25:56):
any tournament end of the year playoff as tough as
those CIF Open Division games with Ediwanda, Sierra Canyon, Modern
Day Winward, you know, Fairmount say, these type of teams.
These teams have just separated themselves. The talent level was
so high. Ediwan has won the national title the past
(26:17):
two years, and but they had to win that Open
Division first. Just going through that gauntlet is incredible. And
the only thing with girls basketball it gets a little
top heavy. You know, the top teams are talented, best
players in the country, especially here in SoCal, but the
levels are there's such a disparity, you know, and then
you'll have you know, high schools that you know can't.
(26:40):
There's some teams modern day would never play because it'd
be and and you don't want to do that. It's
no good for anybody. So the disparity of talent where
the talent aggregates still is top heavy. It aggregates in
certain areas and certain schools, so it's not spread out
as much as it should be. The it is incredible
(27:02):
the amount of talent and so cal.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
You mentioned that top heavy with with girls basketball. You
could say that about all the sports now. It's high
school football, the Trinity League. All the kids want to
get to the Trinity League, high school basketball, you know,
high school baseball. All the kids want to go to
Corona right now, and you know that's the hot bed.
Harvard Westlake was the hot bed for the last ten
years or so. Modern Day's always been really good at baseball. Surveyed, well,
(27:27):
is this just a road where we can never turn
back around and go back and change things? The private
versus public it's a whole long debate. I mean, kids
traveling far to go to private high schools, and you
know the way the Trinity League is compared to other leagues.
You mentioned it in girls basketball how it's top bavy.
It is like that in a lot of sports, and
it just kind of feels like that's the way it's
going to be an open division for for a lot
(27:50):
of the top schools, and it's going to be you know,
Division one really solid and everybody else.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Right. Yeah, Well, you know a great example when I
was at Troy the first time. You know, we we
we we're a top team in Orange County. We beat
Moderate Day, we beat Modern Day, we beat Santa Margarita.
But there's been a shift, uh, you know in the
and I'm a pretty good example of someone who's been
on both sides of the fence, public and private. And
I see the advantages that the private schools have that
(28:17):
we have here at Modern Day. Uh. And I think
once that the ability for private schools like Modern Day
j Sarah, Santa Margarita surveyes, you know, all the all
these top private schools, when we're loyal to all these
great they're all great schools and they're all run by
great people, but I think they were the ability for
(28:38):
them to get students in at a reasonable cost kind
of change things, you know, with more financial aid. We
give out a lot of financial aid here, most of
the private schools do. And when that bridge is kind
of solid solidified. If you're a family and you have
an opportunity to go to a school like this and
(28:58):
it's reasonably priced, it's something your family can do, you're
probably going to take that take that opportunity. Sure O,
don't then go to the local public school. I'm not
saying it's the right decision, but every family has to
do what's right for them, and so I think it's
been an explosion of that, and I think that's why
(29:18):
the private schools have kind of moved to an area
where you know, there's kind of a lack of balance,
you know, competitive equity. But cif I give them credit
that you know they went to the competitive equity model.
You know, they put the top heavy teams in the
open division, kind of separate them from the other divisions.
So if people have a chance of someone like a
(29:40):
public school who win a Division three title and celebrate
that and enjoy that and never forget that moment, and
that's awesome. So I see I have credit. You know,
the competitive agreen model is not flawless, but no system
will ever be flawless. You'll never be able to make
everybody happy. CIF is a thankless job, but I think
they've done a really good job of trying to bridge
(30:02):
the gap. I don't know if I'll ever see in
my lifetime the publics and privates totally split, because I
think some privates would just leave. Why, you know, why
stay with the CIF if you're splitting us up exactly,
I don't know if that will happen. I think that
a lot of people would like to see that happen.
I don't know if it's feasible. Maybe, you know, whatever
(30:23):
works best for people is I'm a supportive of. But
being on both sides of the fence, it's it's uh,
you know, privates do have some You know, my kids
have enjoyed going to Modern Day and my oldest son
enjoyed going to Troy. So I mean, you can, you
can live on both sides of the fence and burt
and do well. It's just every family has their own journey,
and every family has their own decision to make.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
No doubt, we'll wrap it up with this coach. How
long are you going to keep coaching? You're gonna go
to Troy?
Speaker 2 (30:52):
How long are we gonna keep doing this?
Speaker 1 (30:53):
I mean, it feels like you got the energy, you
got the voice back. I mean, you have the knowledge.
I mean, I think we're gonna see this for a
long time.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
Well, like I said, I'm sixty five. My windows closing.
You know, hopefully I'll stay Oh you know, hey, sixty
five with sixty five is a new fifty five exactly
all right. I'm still active, you know, work out every
day if I can, staying healthy, you know, as long
as they want me, you know, or until I can't
do it anymore. And you know, hopefully I'll have some
(31:20):
young coaches working with me that I can help out
and kind of guide and you know, give them an
opportunity sometime down the road. But you know, I see
a lot of stuff, you know, my forty years as
an ad and a coach, and you know, you never
know where you pivot and where you turn. Who knows
what will happen. You know, this is an ever changing
landscape out here in Orange County and the world of
(31:40):
sports that you know, so who knows what's in front
of us. But I just take it one day at
a time. And today I'm talking to you.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
That's awesome, coach, Thank you so much for joining us.
It really enjoyed the conversation. Loved hearing about your time
as athletic director and certainly looking back at your hall
of fame career coaching at the high school and college
level boys and girls basketball.
Speaker 2 (32:02):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Continued success at Troy and we'll be watching as you
can continue to coach in the years to come.
Speaker 3 (32:08):
Thank you appreciate it. Well.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
There he goes Kevin kering in, long time basketball coach
here in southern California. Been at Modern Day nearly twenty
years Troy High School, Cyprus College. Now going back to
Troy High School where it all started nearly four decades
ago for him as the head girls' basketball coach. Great
to catch up with Kevin. He is a mainstay here
(32:30):
in southern California. He and Gary mcnight at Modern Day
High School. I have been doing it a long time
and now Kevin's going back to where it all started at.
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Troy High School.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
His wife the head basketball coach of the women's basketball
team at Concordia University Irvine. She's been a guest here
on the Masters in Coaching podcast, and we appreciate Kevin
coming on all the success he has. Great to hear
his model as far as how he builds and maintains
a program like he has for so many years at
the highest of levels and continuing to win, and how
(32:59):
tough it is to coach here in twenty twenty five,
in this day and age, in this culture of sports
and high school sports. Well, thanks to Kevin, Thanks to
you for listening again. The Coaches Conference coming up in
June at Concordia University, Irvine. Find out about that and
the Masters in Coaching Athletics Administration program with all the
different start dates throughout the year at CUI dot edu
(33:21):
slash coaching CUI dot edu slash coaching.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
Thanks to Kevin.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
Thanks to you for watching and listening to the episode
eighty of the Masters in Coaching podcast.
Speaker 2 (33:32):
Now in the books.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Until next time, Tim Kasin, So long everybody,
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