Pals enlist another foreign coach

One American coach out. Another in.

In a nutshell, that’s what happened to Talk N Text with the team management signing up veteran CBA coach Paul Woolpert to assume the job vacated by former University of Nevada at Las Vegas mentor Bill Bayno in a move that may well stir another noise barrage from local coaches.

Team owner Manny Pangilinan, no less, made the announcement yesterday in a meeting with the players and the team’s local support coaching staff headed by Ariel Vanguardia and Aric del Rosario at the Reyes Gym in Mandaluyong.

Woolpert, a University of Portland alum who’d been an all-star coach in the CBA, was signed to a contract lasting until 2003. He’ll arrive in the country with team governor Ricky Vargas and team manager Frankie Lim Saturday.

It’s unknown, though, whether Woolpert would immediately call the shots in Talk N Text’s first game in the Selecta PBA All-Filipino Cup versus Sta. Lucia Realty next Friday at the Astrodome. The source said Woolpert will first assess his players and the team as a whole upon his arrival.

There’s no doubt Woolpert knows his basketball – his father being the legendary Phil Woolpert and he himself has carved a niche in the CBA, if not the whole US basketball, being the winningest coach in the Yakima Sun Kings history.

The older Woolpert steered the University of San Francisco Dons to back-to-back NCAA championships in 1955-56. Among his players were future NBA stars and Basketball Hall of Famers Bill Russell and KC Jones.

Paul Woolpert had just returned to Yakima after leading the Sioux Falls Skyforce to a 33-23 record (.589) and a first place tie for the 2001-02 CBA American Conference regular season title. En route to Coach of the Month honors in December, Woolpert led the Skyforce on a CBA season high 10-game winning streak.

He served as the head coach of the Sun Kings from 1997-2001, compiling an 89-71 (.556) regular-season record. He also posted a 7-6 (.538) record in three consecutive trips to the CBA playoffs.

In 1999-2000, Woolpert led Yakima to a 33-23 mark, second best in team history. The Sun Kings won the 1999-2000 CBA championship with a 109-93 win over the La Crosse Bobcats in the title game.

Woolpert was named head coach of the West All-Stars at the CBA All-Star game in Sioux Falls in January of 2000, giving him two consecutive All-Star game appearances, after coaching the National Conference squad in the 1999 CBA Players Showcase in Phoenix.

The head coaching position in Yakima was the first for Woolpert, but not his first job with the Sun Kings. He originally went to the club as an assistant coach to Mo McHone in 1994-95. The coaching duo led the Sun Kings to a 36-20 record, and the club’s first CBA championship, defeating the Pittsburgh Piranhas in six games.

Woolpert then joined McHone in Sioux Falls for the 1995-1996 campaign, and the two guided the team to the 1996 CBA championship, defeating the Fort Wayne Fury in five games. The following season (1996-97), the Skyforce finished with a 47-9 record, the third best record in CBA history.

He began his career as a scout and video coordinator with the Seattle Supersonics, where he spent eight seasons. Woolpert also worked as a scout with the Portland Trail Blazers.