Match Made in Heaven : Master’s College Named Oates Men’s Basketball Coach After Call From a Higher Authority

Bill Oates nearly danced on the desk in his staid office at The Master’s College.

Understand that Oates is normally restrained, the ideal replacement for conservative Mel Hankinson as basketball coach and athletic director at the unabashedly restrained, conservative The Master’s College.

“The Master is coming here to watch practice!” Oates gleefully exclaimed as he hung up the telephone.

Granted, the most striking furnishing in Oates’ office is a large framed portrait of Jesus Christ. And, sure, another wall is adorned with team pictures from Oates’ coaching stint with Athletes in Action, the traveling team of talented Christians.

But a hot line to heaven? Direct access to The Master Himself?

Turns out this master is a deity only in basketball circles. John Wooden had called to say he would take up Oates on his offer to attend a team practice. The two have been friends since Wooden provided color commentary for Athletes in Action games while Oates led the team to a record of 171-28 from 1974-79.

“We run a lot of UCLA high-post offense,” Oates said about Wooden’s visit. “No one knows it better than he.”

Hankinson, the popular coach at The Master’s for five years and a prolific author of manuals on basketball strategy, was well-connected in the coaching fraternity. Oates, however, boasts a strong resume himself, and it appears he has friends in high places as well.

Wooden, in fact, recommended Oates for the job at The Master’s in a phone call to college President John MacArthur in mid-August.

MacArthur heard a humble voice say, “I’m John Wooden, I used to be a basketball coach. I think Bill Oates is perfect for your opening. From the standpoint of preparation, and from the standpoint of being a strong Christian, I highly recommend Bill.”

Good coach, fine Christian is how Oates’ previous employers remember him as well.

Oates, 53, coached at St. Mary’s, a Division I West Coast Conference school, from 1979-86, posting an 86-103 record. The Gaels’ only conference title under Oates came in his first season, however, and he resigned under pressure after a 10-17 season.

“He had discipline problems with kids, and that got to him, I think,” said Larry Marfise, St. Mary’s associate athletic director. “Bill is a great coach and a very religious guy. He expected the kids to act a certain way, and some of them didn’t want to act that way.”

Oates spent two years out of coaching before taking the job at Menlo College, a tiny secular school in Atherton, Calif., that plays at the non-scholarship NCAA Division III level. After posting 19-7, 21-7 and 17-9 records during Oates’ first three seasons, Menlo fell to 12-14 and 10-14 the past two seasons.

“He is used to a program where you can give scholarships,” said Mark Majeski, the Menlo sports information director and a former player under Oates. “He is well-suited for (The Master’s) environment. He never swore, but he is one of the most intense coaches I’ve seen.”

Recruiting talent and turning out champions literally with religious fervor is Oates’ mission at The Master’s, an NAIA Division I school. That fits in well with the college’s overall goals.

“We are devoted to personalized scholarship and discipleship, and athletics fits into both,” said MacArthur, a former three-sport athlete at Pacific College who describes himself as an avid sports fan. “That’s why Bill was frustrated (at other schools). His spiritual side is the truest part of him.”

Oates is now free to invoke Jesus, Mary and Joseph in a way distinctly different from most coaches. He can preach a team concept while explaining that each player must go one-on-one with the Lord.

“(Religion) is totally integrated into the athletic program,” Oates said. “The college feels it is doing the Lord’s work and we do what we can in all aspects.”

The team prays before and after practice and holds a Bible study before Friday practices. A chaplain travels with the team. After a recent basketball clinic the team held in Palmdale, a Master’s player gave a gospel presentation.

“(Oates) communicates to us that we are representing God and that when we go on the court we have to use our bodies to glorify God,” said James Mosley, a sophomore forward from Tacoma, Wash. “People see Christ through how hard we play.”

Apparently, glorifying God does not mean playing passively.

“Even though it’s a Christian school, we play hard,” said Jon Shaw, a junior guard from Napa Valley who likes Oates’ style. “We’ll get in teams’ faces and pressure the ball.”

The biggest change from Hankinson’s successful (99-68 record) but deliberate teams is that the pace will be cranked up a notch.

“We’ll play a more up-tempo and open-court game,” Oates said. “Man-to-man defense, less zone.”

The players should flourish in the new system, according to Kamau Herndon, a junior transfer from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.

“We have great shooters,” he said. “We should be fun to watch.”

That most of the players were recruited by Hankinson has not deterred Oates from bombarding them with changes. “The talent matches my system, but not perfectly,” Oates said. “Time will tell. Hopefully, they will flourish within the system and make it work.

“It is important I make sure they understand exactly what we are trying to do. I have to communicate the system, communicate how I want it to work.”

The learning must occur quickly because The Master’s plays a difficult schedule that includes several away games against NCAA Division II teams early in the season. Oates inherited the schedule from Hankinson, but has no complaints.

“This is by far the most challenging schedule The Master’s has ever played, but we will persevere,” he said.

And if Oates does endure at The Master’s, eventually he will play a schedule he devised with players he recruited. Finding prospects who possess the spiritual requirements as well as talent is a challenge that Oates relishes.

“We need to get very, very good players to get to the NAIA nationals,” he said. “Along with that, we need really fine people who fit in academically and spiritually. It requires a special kind of young man. Our recruiting pool is somewhat limited. But those who do make it here can flourish.”

Oates speaks openly of his faith. He became, in his words, “born again” in 1973 after a player on his Santa Ana College team named Bob Beaton died of leukemia.

“After his passing, I turned my life over to Christ,” said Oates, who has been married 30 years to his wife, Jean, and has three grown children. “It was a pivotal time.”

Three years later he was selected to coach Athletes in Action, which enabled Oates to coach several future NBA players as well as solidify his belief that Christianity and coaching can co-exist.

“I also learned that ability is important but that the character of the athlete is more important,” he said.

Oates has a 439-242 lifetime record in the college and AIA ranks. That, above all, prompted MacArthur to hire him.

“In the interview, after we talked about all the character stuff, he said the most important thing to me, ‘I want to win,’ ” MacArthur said. “I said, ‘OK, you’re hired.’

“I think he’s a winner.”