Modesto coaches take different paths to CIF NorCal regional tourney

Beyer High School boys basketball coach Kyle McKim looks younger than a few of his players. Central Catholic boys coach Mike Wilson has been known, on occasion, to raise the sideline decibel meter to airline-runway levels. And Modesto Christian girls coach Robb Spencer coaches with a calmness that belies a fiery intensity.

All three coaches will host CIF Northern California regional playoff games Wednesday night.

Yes, these coaches are as diverse as the 12 Stanislaus District teams that begin play tonight in the CIF Northern California Regionals.

But who are they? Where did they come from? And how did they get here?

Here’s a look at the coaches who will be doing their thing Wednesday at various gyms around Modesto:

Kyle McKim, Beyer boys – At 31 years of age, McKim has the look of somebody 10 years his junior.

Barely.

“I’ve gotten that comment many times,” said McKim, a 2003 Beyer graduate who will lead his Patriots against Mountain View. “From time to time, refs have asked me why I’m not playing in the game.

“I’ll take it while I still can.”

McKim won Central California Conference titles while playing for the freshman and junior varsity teams at Beyer, then made the section during his two varsity campaigns.

McKim never thought much about coaching but took a job as the boys eighth-grade coach at Mae Hensley Junior High in Ceres.

“I didn’t really want to do it; it wasn’t something that I ever really aspired to,” said McKim, who guided the Patriots to their first section final in school history. “I did it for one year, and I knew I loved it.”

After that, McKim was hooked.

Former Beyer coach Brandon Helstrom brought him into the fold in 2010, and four years later, he took over the top job.

“He gave me the opportunity to come to Beyer and coach the JV and helped me grow as a coach,” McKim said.

Fresno City College’s Ed Madec, one of the most successful men’s coaches in the state, also has been a mentor for McKim.

“He’s been so successful and what they do, we try implement here,” said McKim, who met Madec and his staff at an FCC preseason clinic. “Watching them, we kind of aspire to be like them in certain ways. Being guard-oriented, pressure, getting up and down the floor … it just made sense to copy a lot of what they do.”

Madec, for his part, is flattered to be called a mentor by McKim.

“The crazy thing is, I went and watched them in the section tournament and I was blown away by some of the schemes he was running,” said Madec, who has won two state titles with the Rams and is the school’s all-time winningest coach. “I told him, ‘Hey, do you think you can teach me a couple of those schemes?’

“I’ve enjoyed watching him evolve as a coach, and he’s always been a great person. What a phenomenal job he’s done.”

Mike Wilson, Central Catholic boys – Being sandwiched between football and baseball seasons can be challenging for any basketball coach, but it’s especially daunting at Central Catholic, where the football (19) and baseball (11) programs own Sac-Joaquin Section records for most championship banners.

At times, Wilson must have felt like yelling just to get some recognition for his program. These days, Wilson mostly just yells.

“It’s acting,” Wilson said of his fiery sideline persona. “Lots of times, you’ve got to hear what I’m saying. Sometimes, I’m yelling over the noise to get someone’s attention, or I’m yelling, but what I’m saying is actually positive.

“The passion for the game is what creates some of my behavior. I know I get riled up and there’s some drama, but it’s just passion for the game.”

That passion has helped put basketball on the map at Central Catholic, which entertains Kerman on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“I don’t know, are we a football school?” asked athletic director Billy Hylla. “Our basketball team has won two section titles since our football team’s last one. Our basketball program has been extremely successful, and I’ve never viewed it as anything less than one of the top athletic programs on campus.”

Wilson – the son of Mark Wilson, the school’s first basketball coach – enjoyed almost instant success at Central Catholic. He was 9-17 in his first season (2005-06) but has averaged 22 wins a season since and has reached the NorCals five of the last six years. In 12 seasons, he’s compiled a record of 253-105 (.707).

Still, it was hard for the basketball program to carve a niche.

“When I got hired, one of my goals was to help make this a basketball school,” Wilson said.

He took a huge step in that direction last season when Central Catholic snapped a 27-year section championship drought with the second hoops title in school history. The wait for a third blue banner lasted just 363 days, as the Raiders defeated West Campus 89-79 in OT on Friday in an encore of the 2016 Division IV title matchup.

If the Raiders get hot over the next fortnight, they could find themselves playing for the school’s first state basketball title March 25 at Sacramento’s new Golden 1 Center.

“It’s been a slow process,” said Wilson, a 1981 graduate of Grace Davis who majored in criminal justice at Stanislaus State and worked as a police officer in Pittsburg for six years. He owned and operated Season Tickets Sports Pub in Modesto and Turlock before landing a teaching job at Central Catholic in 2001. “We’re trying to build a tradition.”

Robb Spencer, Modesto Christian girls – Nobody coaching in the Stanislaus District today can match Spencer’s record.

In his 16th season at Modesto Christian, Spencer owns a career record of 417-109 (.793), with 16 consecutive 20-win seasons, 16 consecutive playoff appearances, seven section championships and one state crown.

But walk into the gym during a Crusaders game and you’d likely mistake him for a spectator. He often sits quietly on the bench, occasionally slipping ever so slightly off his seat and into a catcher’s crouch.

Unlike Wilson, he’s not much for sideline outbursts. An incredulous stare is about the most protest an official will get from Spencer. Like McKim, he held no lifelong dream of becoming a coach.

“I transferred from De Anza College and played one year at Stanislaus State,” said Spencer, a graduate of James Logan High in Union City, which will host Modesto Christian’s boys team Wednesday. The girls will entertain Acalanes of Lafayette at 7. “I had the opportunity to play my senior year, but things weren’t working out the way I thought they should.”

During his time at Stanislaus State, he was required to intern as an assistant coach. He spent one year at Turlock Junior High and another at Denair Middle School.

“That’s when it really opened my eyes,” Spencer said. “Watching the kids grow over those short seasons was just an amazing feeling. That’s what opened the door.”

Spencer’s first taste of coaching came when he was a student at New Haven Middle School in Union City. He played on the eighth-grade team and was an assistant coach for the girls squad.

“It must’ve been a sign,” Spencer said.

After stops at Riverbank and Beyer high schools, Spencer eventually joined the staff at MJC. He was there when the Modesto Christian job came open.

“I didn’t think I’d get the job,” Spencer said. “Because of the Paris twins, there was a lot of interest in the job.”

Spencer, along with Courtney and Ashley Paris – both would go on to play in the WNBA – made it to the state final, where they lost to La Jolla Country Day.

Nevertheless, the foundation was laid and the Crusaders would become a Northern California powerhouse.

“I didn’t feel any pressure when I came in,” said Spencer, whose teams have reached the section final 11 times in 16 seasons. “I don’t think naive is the right word, but I wasn’t worried about anything.

“Players like that don’t come around every year. That’s reality. I was blessed to be grounded enough to know that you’ve got to work for it. Yeah, you can have talent, but you’ve still got to work for it.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Modesto coaches take different paths to CIF NorCal regional tourney."