Westphal hoping to make mark with Providence boys’ basketball
Michael Westphal understands the inevitable comparisons that come with being the son of a former NBA All-Star and longtime coach.
Michael’s father, Paul Westphal, was a star at USC and was the 10th pick in the 1972 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. He was a five-time NBA All-Star who was also an NBA head coach for 10 years and coached the Pepperdine program for five years.
But Michael, who was the head coach at Moorpark High the past two years as well as an assistant at Oaks Christian and Calabasas previously, has established his own identity and reputation as a basketball coach.
Westphal, who played for his father at Pepperdine from 2000-03, brings that basketball experience and expertise to Providence, where he was introduced Thursday as the new boys’ basketball coach.
“If people want to think of me based on my father’s reputation, that’s great, he has a great reputation,” Westphal, 36, said. “And if they want to think of me on my reputation, hopefully I’m building a good one, as well. Honestly, people are going to think what they think. I don’t really worry about that, I just go out and do what I do.”
Westphal, who will also serve as a physical education teacher at the school, takes over a Providence program that went 24-45 and 5-11 in the Liberty League the past three seasons under former coach Chris Madigan.
“I am here to do the most I can for the kids, not only with basketball, but to help them grown into productive young men,” said Westphal, who, along with wife Leanne, are expecting their first child. “This is definitely a challenge I look forward to at Providence. It’s just a matter of getting the right kids in the right spots.”
The coach said he is excited about getting his tenure started and getting to know his new players.
“A lot of what we’ll be doing is based on the personnel that I have,”said Westphal, who will also serve as an assistant boys’ golf coach for the Pioneers. “I will see what I’m working with to try and highlight our advantages and kind of try and hide our weaknesses, because every team has both of those.
“At Moorpark, I purposely tried put together a tough schedule to try and get the team ready for our league, which was very, very tough. ...You have to prepare your team for league, along with CIF. The summer program starts up for us on Monday, so I will get to know the team fairly quickly.”
The past two seasons at Moorpark, Westphal’s teams went 29-27 and 6-10 in the tough Coastal Canyon League that includes Oak Park, Simi Valley, Camarillo and Royal.
“He’s a very good coach and I think he’s a great fit for our school,” Providence athletic director Andrew Bencze said. “He came in and he was someone we were definitely interested in right away. It’s also great that he’s going to be a teacher, because it’s always good to have someone here on campus. He is just a nice, easy-going guy who has a wealth of basketball knowledge.
“The funny think about his hiring is when I interviewed him, not once did we talk about his dad, it was all about him. He is the guy who is going to have to coach here and lead the program, not his father. But he obviously comes from a great basketball background.”
--
Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports