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SoCalHoops High School News

More Brea Profile News,
Errata In Our Own Profile--(Oct. 15, 1999)

We've been pretty busy lately, mostly at work (geez, sometimes work just intrudes on life, which is really a bitch. . . . . especially when "life" happens to be basketball). So we've had to temporarily put on hold some of the profiles of high school teams we've been working on (we've got a ton of them that we're about to unleash, but we need to put some finishing touches on them before we do. . . . be patient, they're coming). But last weekend we did manage to get our profile of the Brea-Olinda Wildcats posted, and much to our surprise, we found that we needed to render a couple of corrections, a few of which Brea Coach Bob Terry let us know about. Bob wrote to us with the following:

Thank you for the team preview. We appreciate it. A few corrections though. Curtis Levine is a transfer from Sonora. He was an All-Freeway League selection, and hit 73 three pointers last year. Kirk Reimer is a 6'-6" power forward . Also add Seth Criner, a 6'-5" 210 pound senior forward and Ken Washington, a 6'-1" senior guard. With Reimer and Criner we have much better size along with the others Thanks again,

Bob Terry

We've duly noted the changes and thanks for letting us know, coach. And as long as we're adding stuff (yeah, we know that pretty soon, people will start calling us "BreaHoops.com", but when there's news, there's news), we ran across the following in the LA Times the other day. Here's the article by Paul Saitowitz:

From out of the community, a coach
Bob Terry is at home on the Brea courts where it all began for
him in basketball.
By PAUL SAITOWITZ

If you have had anything to do with boys' basketball in Brea over the years, chances are you've heard of Bob Terry. Terry, who graduated from Brea in 1987, played one year on the varsity squad. "I hit a late growth spurt my senior year, and I ended up having a pretty good season," Terry said. "But I had a lot better college career than high school career." At 6 feet 8, Terry went on to have two outstanding seasons at Fullerton College. He finished his career at the school as it's fourth all-time leading scorer and all-time leader in free throw percentage at 90%. His second year at the school, he averaged 20 points per game and was an all-state selection.

While at Fullerton College, Terry began coaching Brea seventh-and eighth-grade basketball teams. "I loved working with the kids and teaching them how to play and play as team," he said. Coaching those teams made a bigger effect on his life than he could have imagined. "He was coaching my brother's basketball team when we met, and we've been together ever since," Terry's wife, Dina, said.

After playing at Fullerton, Terry was recruited by perennial NAIA powerhouse Azusa Pacific University. It was ranked No. 1 in the nation for five weeks during Terry's tenure at the school. "It was an amazing feeling to be a part of a No. 1 team," he said. "The chemistry playing with those guys was like no other team I've ever been on."

While at the school, Terry earned third-team All-American honors by averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds per game. Terry graduated from Azusa Pacific with a degree in sociology and was offered the opportunity to go on to play professionally. "I had the chance to try out for some teams overseas, but I had just gotten married and I didn't feel that was the lifestyle for me," he said.

However, the passion for the sport was still burning inside him. "I decided to get my teaching credential from APU, and while I was doing that, I coached the school's JV team," Terry said. "Coaching there made me realize that it was something I wanted to pursue." After getting his credential, he taught physical education at Brea Junior High and coached the freshman boys' basketball team at his alma mater.

"As a player, I didn't really see him as a coach until we played Long Beach Wilson in the playoffs his senior year," said Rick Jones, Terry's high school coach. "The local TV station was there, and I told them to talk to Bob, who was normally very quiet. To my surprise, he answered every question like a movie star, giving detailed answers and showing that he really knew the game."

In two years as the freshman coach, Terry compiled a 43-2 record. After that, he became the associate varsity coach for a year before taking over the program two years ago. Last year's team finished 26-3 and made it to the CIF semifinals.

"I think the thing that makes Bob such a good coach is that he doesn't try to do too much," said Rusty Ham, Terry's assistant and former Brea Olinda teammate. "He lets the coaching staff put a lot of input in." Terry is unsure what the future holds for him. "I would love to coach in college, but it would have to be the right situation," he said. "I love my job right now, and it would take a lot to leave it."

Who: Bob Terry,
School: Brea Olinda High School
Position: Varsity boys' basketball coach
Hometown: Brea
Age: 30
Family: Wife, Dina; two sons, Christopher, 6, and Matthew, 16 months.
What: Graduated from Brea in 1987.
What Else: Went on to play college basketball at Fullerton College and Azusa Pacific University.
More: Has been coaching at Brea since 1993.
Misc.: Holds the all-time free throw percentage record at Azusa
Pacific--90%.