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Sideline stability: Craig Engelbrecht has been the Eugene's varsity basketball coach for 18 years
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By David Owen
News Tribune
EUGENE - There have been a lot of changes over the last 20 years in high school basketball.
Coaches have left, coaches have been let go. But there's one area coach who has remained a constant in the community for nearly two decades.
That's been a good thing for the Eugene Eagles.
For the past 18 years, Craig Engelbrecht has walked the hardwood as the coach of the Eugene boys varsity basketball team. And during that time, he's been quietly going about the business of implementing a style of basketball that has kept the Eagles competitive year-in and year-out.
Keep it fast, keep it aggressive.
“I always knew that's the way I wanted to play - to be up-tempo and be aggressive,” he said.
In his tenure, Engelbrecht has won six district titles - four since 2001. He's racked up nearly 300 wins and has been to the Final Four once.
Not bad for a coach who didn't even play the game in college. But it was in college where he began laying the foundation of his coaching career.
At Central Missouri State, Engelbrecht took a class taught by Lynn Nance, who was on the verge of taking the Mules to their first-ever NCAA Division II basketball championship in 1984.
“He just kind of spurred your mind to think about the things you want to do when you get out there and coach,” Engelbrecht said.
Fueled by Nance's theories, Engelbrecht also began to read and study the styles of Dean Smith and Jerry Tarkanian.
After college, Engelbrecht took his knowledge and started out as the Russellville girls coach, where he finished with a 48-27 record after three years.
Then he made his move.
The young coach got his shot coaching the boys junior varsity team at Eugene - his alma mater. He toiled as the JV coach for three years, implementing his style of up-tempo basketball. But it clashed with the varsity coach's style.
“I worked with coach (Curt) Norfleet, but he was in the 1950s style,” Engelbrecht said. “It was walking up and we're going to do 100 passes. It's kind of hard to work in that system when you've got the JV and you're saying run, run, run.”
He got his chance to show off all the hard work he put in with the JV when, three years later, he took over the varsity team for the 1990-91 season.
“When coach Norfleet left and the job opened up, I wanted it, because I knew what kind of talent we had,” Engelbrecht said.
For more of this story, please log onto our e-Edition. The story appears on page C1 of the Oct. 20 issue of the News Tribune.
Coaches have left, coaches have been let go. But there's one area coach who has remained a constant in the community for nearly two decades.
That's been a good thing for the Eugene Eagles.
For the past 18 years, Craig Engelbrecht has walked the hardwood as the coach of the Eugene boys varsity basketball team. And during that time, he's been quietly going about the business of implementing a style of basketball that has kept the Eagles competitive year-in and year-out.
Keep it fast, keep it aggressive.
“I always knew that's the way I wanted to play - to be up-tempo and be aggressive,” he said.
In his tenure, Engelbrecht has won six district titles - four since 2001. He's racked up nearly 300 wins and has been to the Final Four once.
Not bad for a coach who didn't even play the game in college. But it was in college where he began laying the foundation of his coaching career.
At Central Missouri State, Engelbrecht took a class taught by Lynn Nance, who was on the verge of taking the Mules to their first-ever NCAA Division II basketball championship in 1984.
“He just kind of spurred your mind to think about the things you want to do when you get out there and coach,” Engelbrecht said.
Fueled by Nance's theories, Engelbrecht also began to read and study the styles of Dean Smith and Jerry Tarkanian.
After college, Engelbrecht took his knowledge and started out as the Russellville girls coach, where he finished with a 48-27 record after three years.
Then he made his move.
The young coach got his shot coaching the boys junior varsity team at Eugene - his alma mater. He toiled as the JV coach for three years, implementing his style of up-tempo basketball. But it clashed with the varsity coach's style.
“I worked with coach (Curt) Norfleet, but he was in the 1950s style,” Engelbrecht said. “It was walking up and we're going to do 100 passes. It's kind of hard to work in that system when you've got the JV and you're saying run, run, run.”
He got his chance to show off all the hard work he put in with the JV when, three years later, he took over the varsity team for the 1990-91 season.
“When coach Norfleet left and the job opened up, I wanted it, because I knew what kind of talent we had,” Engelbrecht said.
For more of this story, please log onto our e-Edition. The story appears on page C1 of the Oct. 20 issue of the News Tribune.
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mckfan wrote on Oct 21, 2008 12:31 PM: