Bigfork hires boys basketball coach, teacher
Bigfork High School administrators
filled the vacant head boys basketball position last week with the
hiring of Kurt Paulson.
Paulson is a 2001 graduate of Whitefish
High School. As a Bulldog, he played basketball and football and
competed in track. He earned All-state honors twice each in both
basketball and football. Paulson was on the 1999 Bulldog basketball
team that took third place in the Class A state tournament.
After high school, Paulson played
basketball at Carroll College and served as the starting point
guard. In 2006 he helped the Saints make it to the NAIA Elite 8 and
the Fab Four in 2005.
He graduated from Carroll in 2006 with
a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and health and
physical education/sports management. Once out of college, Paulson
served as an assistant coach for Carroll’s men’s basketball team
for two years, and for the past two years he has been a graduate
assistant coach at the University of Montana.
“I’m just so excited about helping
these boys become the best basketball players they can be, and to
help make basketball a fun sport to be a part of at Bigfork,”
Paulson said.
Paulson is the third person to hold the
head boys basketball coaching position since long-time coach Jim
Epperly resigned following the 2007-2008 season. Lyle Whiteman
coached the team the following year and Paul La Mott led the team
the past two seasons. Both coaches’ tenures were ended due to not
being recommended for rehire by the Bigfork administration.
Paulson had his first chance to meet
and work with potential members of next season’s Bigfork boys
basketball team Monday. He held an open gym after school that was
attended by about a dozen athletes.
“I was very pleased after the first day
and very excited,” Paulson said. “It will be fun to get to know
them more as time goes on.”
The new coach admits that the turn
around is quick, as his hiring was only confirmed Friday by the
school board at a special meeting that was held to vote on the
approval of the Bigfork Area Education Association collective
bargaining agreement and the hiring of two other staff members.
“One of my main reasons for trying to
get things rolling, because it’s kind of short notice since I just
got hired, it is my opinion that we’re kind of behind,” Paulson
said. “That’s why I’m working on getting them in the gym and
getting them caught up.”
Paulson is taking two groups of Bigfork
boys to the University of Montana team camp this weekend in
Missoula, which he hopes will help get the program moving in a
forward direction again.
“I’m going to give them some plays to
run on offense and some philosophies to try to work on on defense
this week and we’ll see how they do with it,” Paulson said. “The
camp will be a good opportunity for me to see what they are capable
of and evaluate where we are at.”
Since Paulson was coaching in Missoula
the past two basketball seasons, and in Helena prior to that, he
has not seen this group of Bigfork athletes play basketball.
“Having not been able to watch them
play in a game situation, it seems like they’re a good group of
kids and there is a good group of seniors that have a lot of solid
game experience and leadership,” Paulson said. “I’m going to come
in and probably just take it from where they left off. I’m also
going to have my own philosophies and techniques as well. Since I
haven’t seen them play, there are some advantages in that I can
evaluate all of them from scratch without already knowing anything
about them. Everyone has a clean slate.”
Paulson’s lack of knowledge of the team
does present a challenge in regards to knowing what playing style
he will have his team run.
“I’m big on adapting the style of play
you have to the type of kids on the team,” Paulson said. “I like
playing up tempo games and having the boys get up and down the
court fast and scoring points quickly. However, that is only if
that style fits our team and helps us win games.”
Paulson should have plenty of time to
get to know his athletes and their playing strengths and weaknesses
this summer. He will be holding regular open gyms and intends to
take the boys to three or four camps this summer.
“I’m going to try to push as much open
gym and as much weight room time, as I can,” Paulson said. “I want
them to play as much basketball as possible. I know with a school
like Bigfork that athletes are playing multiple sports and that
they need to work on them during the summer too. I’m OK with that,
and I’m a supporter of playing other sports.”
While Paulson is getting acquainted
with his new team, he will also have to get used to the idea of
being a Viking and to being on the other end of the
Bigfork-Whitefish rivalry.
“It will be sort of an adjustment, but
I’ve always had a lot of respect for Bigfork athletics and the
coaches that were here before me,” Paulson said. “Also, I’ve been
out of school for 10 years, so those sort of things tend to go away
in time. I’m excited about Bigfork. The great thing is the coaches
in the other programs and the teachers and the other staff members
have been really helpful in acclimating me to the school and the
students. They have all been so welcoming.”
FACULTY DUTIES
In addition to running the boys
basketball program at Bigfork, Paulson will serve as assistant
activities director. He will take the lead on the middle school
activities programs and assist current high school activities
director Matt Porrovecchio with the freshman through senior
program. Current Bigfork Middle School activities director and dean
of students Cory Pierce, has verbally resigned from Bigfork as he
is taking a principal job in West Glacier next year. His official
resignation is expected to be accepted by the board at next
Wednesday’s meeting.
Paulson is also being hired for a P.E.
and health teaching position that, combined with his activities
director duties, will make him a full-time district staff
member.
“I’m pretty excited,” Paulson said of
the setup. “I think it will be a fun change-up in the day to have
two different roles. Then I’ll also have basketball after school
and before school. So, it will be challenge and it will be
time-consuming, but I think it will be a good spot for me. I’m
young and I have a lot of energy, so I think I will do well with
it. I’m just really happy and thankful for this opportunity.”
Paulson will split his time between the
high school and the elementary and middle school and will join
current P.E. and health teachers Sue Loeffler and Epperly.
“Principals at both schools have been
saying for some time that the P.E. classes have been a little bit
bigger than they should be,” said Bigfork superintendent Cynthia
Clary. “Kurt will fill that need for us. Also, he will help us get
our strength and conditioning program back on the schedule. With
the overcrowding in all of the classes, it was something that was
taken off the schedule. There is obviously a need for it, and it is
something we want to get back because it is an important part of
keeping our kids healthy and preventing injuries.”
Paulson is currently working on his
Masters in Education from the University of Montana, which he
intends to have completed this summer.
“While at Carroll College and the
University of Montana he was actively involved in coaching,
coordinating and working various high school camps,” said
Porrovecchio in a statement to the Bigfork school board. “He is
very excited about the prospect of returning to the Flathead Valley
to teach at BHS and join his family already in the area.”