As a young teacher and hoops junkie living in Newfoundland, Don Horwood found himself enthralled by an article he read about the crowds and atmosphere at the sa国际传媒 high school basketball championships.
He knew he had to be a part of it. So he took a flyer and applied, admittedly near blindly, to seven school districts in sa国际传媒
To say it worked out would be an understatement.
The floor in the small Oak Bay gym will be named Don Horwood Court in a ceremony Friday at 7 p.m. during the Gary Taylor Classic boys鈥� high school tournament.
In a previous ceremony, the floor in the main gym of the new Oak Bay school building was named Gary Taylor Court in honour of the legendary Oak Bay basketball coach whom Horwood replaced in 1969-70.
鈥淚 had never been west of Toronto. From 5,000 miles away, I walked right into [the movie] Hoosiers 鈥� I could not have been luckier,鈥� said Horwood, in explaining his astonishing good fortune in landing in probably the most desirable situation in Canadian high school basketball.
Taylor had created a dynasty at Oak Bay and coached the Bays to two sa国际传媒 high school titles. Taylor鈥檚 Bays played in four sa国际传媒 championship games, losing twice to the Vic High Totems in memorable all-Island finals, before going on to coach the University of Victoria Vikes.
Horwood topped even Taylor鈥檚 legacy. The transplanted Newfoundlander coached the Bays to three sa国际传媒 titles and five sa国际传媒 championship game appearances in the 1970s.
That led to Horwood being hired by the University of Alberta, where he captured three CIS national titles in a 26-year coaching career with the Golden Bears. The latter would not have happened without the former.
鈥淚 would not have received the opportunity at Alberta if not for what I did at Oak Bay,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 had a passion and drive for the sport, and I brought it with me across the country.鈥�
Not that it was easy at the start for a 25-year-neophyte teacher/coach from the wrong coast. The story is now legendary about how Bays player Walt Burrows, who went on to head Canadian scouting for Major League Baseball, asked Horwood during his first practice if he was going to utilize Taylor鈥檚 patented Bays 1-3-1 half-court press.
鈥淚 thought to myself: 鈥榃hat the hell is that?鈥� 鈥� Horwood said with a chuckle. He rushed to the library and looked it up.
And never looked back.
Horwood built a Bays dynasty with such players as Chris Trumpy, Rob Parris, Grant Boland, Evan Jones, Tim Carlson, Brian Sutherland-Brown, Dave and Ken Kirzinger, Craig Higgins and Kelly Dukeshire.
Trumpy went on star at UBC, Parris at UVic as the point-guard template and precursor to Eli Pasquale and Steve Nash. Dave Kirzinger and Evan Jones chose pro football in the CFL. Dukeshire was the high-leaping Skywalker at UVic and on the national team, beating the U.S. team with Charles Barkley and Karl Malone in the semifinals en route to the gold medal at the 1983 World University Games.
But Horwood singles out former UVic great Higgins for special praise: 鈥淐raig would have been a star on the national team if not for his knee problems.鈥�
Of all the rivals the Bays faced during that era, Horwood said the best was former UVic Vikes great and two-time Olympian Gerald Kazanowski from Nanaimo District Secondary: 鈥淜az was the classiest of players.鈥�
Horwood has often been asked about the keys to his coaching success at Oak Bay and the University of Alberta.
鈥淚 was passionate about the game and coaching. Players can read that. They can read through fakery,鈥� said Horwood.
鈥淧layers will overlook a lot [of a coach鈥檚 deficiencies] if you share their passion.鈥�
Now that passion has a name: Don Horwood Court.
Both the Taylor and Horwood courts are buzzing with games this weekend in the Gary Taylor Classic, featuring top boys鈥� high school teams from the Island, across the the province and also Alberta. The semifinals are tonight at 5:45 and 7:30 p.m., and the championship game is Saturday evening at 6 p.m.
