Jeff Sink accepts new challenge at age 60

Long ranked as one of the nation's premier girls basketball coaches at Brea Olinda (Brea, Calif.), Jeff Sink turned 60 recently and had been thinking seriously about retiring. However, the boys job opened at his school this spring and he took it, launching a challenging new chapter in his career.

During his 30-year career, he has compiled an outstanding 718-146 record with six state titles. At Brea Olinda, his record is 480-74 with four titles. During 13 previous years at Lathrop (Fairbanks, Alaska), he posted a 238-72 record with two state championships.

He has been named National Coach of the Year twice and state coach of the year three times.

"I was more disappointed this year than any other time in my career," Sink told MaxPreps. "We lost in the (state) quarterfinals to Canyon Springs (Moreno Valley) – a 29-point turnaround (from a previous victory). We underperformed. It was by far the best team I've ever had. Four of our kids signed Division I and there are three juniors who probably will go Division I next year."

The Lady Cats, who finished with a 31-2 record, also lost to eventual state and national champion Mater Dei (Santa Ana) after beating the same team earlier in the year.

Ironically, coaching never had been on Sink's radar while growing up in La Canada. Though he said he loved playing basketball and baseball, he spent his high school years running cross country and track to please his father, Roland Sink, a superb distance runner who made the 1948 Olympic team.

After graduating from La Canada High School in 1969, Sink ran track and cross country for one year at the University of Redlands before ending his running career to concentrate on academics. He graduated in 1973 and had planned to attend law school. Instead, he went to the University of Southern California to study psychology.

Needing a job in 1975, he was hired at St. Alphonsus Catholic School in East Los Angeles to teach seventh and eighth grade. He also was handed the job of coaching CYO flag football.

"It was deadly serious," he said of flag football. "We won the CYO Los Angeles title. I was like a legend right away," Sink joked. "They also gave me boys basketball and boys and girls track."

He still vividly recalls the words – concerning discipline – given to him by his overseer, Sister Helena, the first day he was hired. She said, "Don't smile until Christmas, Mr. Sink, and you'll be fine."

His second day on the job, he still had plenty to learn, however.

"A student ran out of my class," he said. "I didn't know better, so I ran out in the hallway and tackled him. It was a great experience, because I got thrown into the fire immediately."

In 1978 he was hired at Marymount, an elite private Catholic girls school located across from the UCLA campus in Westwood. Movie actor Gene Kelly was among the famous parents who sent their daughters there.

"I really enjoyed St. Alphonsus," Sink said. "I realized I had a gift as a coach and teacher. That's where my real love for basketball began. (Through one of his players) I got to meet and have dinner with Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and Magic (Johnson). I became a real student of the game. I learned the game from the ground up and became a real fanatic."

After 38 years, he still says one of his best moves was marrying Cathy Roberts, whose grandfather, Eugene Roberts, who was a coach and athletic director at Brigham Young University.

His wife took a job at the University of Fairbanks mental health clinic in 1980 and he was able to grab a position as varsity volleyball coach at Lathrop High. After just two weeks, he had a full-time job there and when the girls basketball coach was fired for a winless season, he inherited her job.

During his first year, he took his team to the Kodiak Tournament, which was played in a gym that resembled a Quonset hut made of metal. The Kodiak students were given a pair of sticks to bang together.

"It was the loudest thing I ever heard," Sink said. "The Quonset hut shook and I was unnerved. The fog covered up the school and we had to stay for four days. I maxed out my Visa card feeding the kids.

"We had a 20-minute window (finally) to fly out. When we got back, I did a head count and found out we were missing a kid. I almost got fired."

That first year, his team won its last 11 games to finish at 12-15. The second year he began benefitting from a nearby military base when a family from Louisiana enrolled three talented daughters and the team reached the state finals with a glossy 22-2 record.

"I still was doing it (coaching) with smoke and mirrors, but I had some legitimacy," he said.

In 1982 and 1983 Lathrop lost to Wasilla, which was led by point guard Sarah Heath (now Sarah Palin).

Sink says the former governor of Alaska "had curly hair, handled the ball pretty well, was feisty, a determined defender and shot free throws well. They called her Sarah Barracuda."

During his 13 years at Lathrop, Sink won a pair of state titles and once was named Alaska Coach of the Year.

He became so obsessed with basketball that he thought nothing of taking a plane trip 400 miles to watch future Duke University star Trajan Langdon play for East Anchorage.

Sink credits legendary Indiana University coach Bob Knight for much of his professional knowledge and growth.

"Every year I would go to Bob Knight's clinic and take my team to his camp," Sink said. "I was overwhelmed. That was the turning point in my career – when I watched him teach the game. Moving without the ball. Screening. How important defense was."

In 1993, Sink was offered the head girls position at Brea Olinda and though he was quite honored he turned it down.
All the Lady Cats did that year was post a 33-0 record and win the state and national championships.

Surprisingly, the job again opened up the very next year and at that point Sink decided it was time to return home to California.

Even though 10 seniors had graduated the previous year, Sink guided the Lady Cats to the CIF sectional title. He later won state titles in 1998, 1999 and 2000. The latter year he also was named Orange County Teacher of the Year. His final state title came in 2009, a year during which the Lady Cats also were crowned national champions by MaxPreps.

Along the way, he sent over 30 players to college, including standouts Chelsea Trotter and Jeanette Pohlen.

The games were memorable.

"The best game I ever coached was in 1998 against Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) and Ebony Hoffman," Sink said. "Coaches from all over the country flew in. The gym held 1,800 and we had 2,200. We won, 82-78, in overtime and all 10 starters went Division I.

"The most ‘wow' game was a losing game. Diana Taurasi dropped 44 points on us. I still think Taurasi is the greatest guard on the planet. They (Chino Lugo) beat us and they had nobody else on their team. That was the most (points) ever against my team."

Switching coaching jobs was not an easy decision, Sink admitted, because the last time his school had a strong boys team was over 10 years ago.

"I thought about it for three weeks," he said.

Once he made his decision, he was happy for two reasons. No. 1, the cupboard is far from bare and he expects the Lady Cats to continue as a state and national power. No. 2, he is energized as he heads in a new direction.

"I've got a group of youngsters and have decided to go coach guys for three or four years," he said. "We have two starters back and no size. Our tallest player in the entire program is 6-2. I have 60 kids out right now and a lot of guards. I'm a good motivator and excited. We are going to press and run, spread the court and shoot threes."

Sink is a fascinating guy with a good sense of humor.

He loves photography and wildlife. He has been going to Africa since 1998 and counts 12 trips so far to places like Kenya and Tanzania.

He calls Africa "the only place where parents can't reach me. Africa is completely cut off. Some day I'd like to open a gallery or write a book. I love hiking, nature and fly fishing. It's solitary and introspective. I love the outdoors. God's beauty is unbelievable.

"I run every day and play basketball. I'm the youngest 60-year-old that I know."

That youthful outlook could help him answer those who question his ability to make the transition.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge. It clearly will be a different pressure, not so much in the spotlight. I'll do what I like – teach the game. Maybe I can't coach guys. Maybe I will fall on my face. That's OK. I'm willing to live with that. If I have a legacy, I don't feel it will be diminished. It's not about awards for me."