Hawking Has Returned to High School Coaching at Anaheim

The boys’ basketball players at Anaheim High must have walked down the street to Disneyland, hung out at Fantasyland and wished upon a star because that’s how fortunate they are to have found their new coach.

“It was like a dream come true,” said junior Chasin Mitchell. “We were getting a college coach.”

Only days before the fall semester began, Bob Hawking became Anaheim’s coach. For 14 years at Simi Valley High, he was the best Xs and Os man in the business. He was a master teacher, with more than 20 of his former players going on to coach at the youth, high school or college level.

He left in 1988 to be a college assistant, first at Pepperdine and then at UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton.

For six years, he was head coach at Fullerton. There were 18-hour work days, few vacations and little time to feel secure. Just when it seemed the Titans were ready to make a breakthrough, an injury would inevitably cripple their season.

Last season, with four games to play, Hawking announced his resignation. The frustration had become too great. A 13-14 record was the best he could achieve. He learned won-loss records count more in the business of college coaching than educating student-athletes.

This season, while Fullerton struggles with one victory in 12 games under Donny Daniels, Hawking has become a savior to Anaheim teenagers desperate to learn the game.

Hawking, 52, his once brown hair now gray but his deep, penetrating voice coming through clearer than ever, is back where it all started, teaching fundamentals to kids yearning to be successful.

“If I’m coaching a fourth-grade team, I’m getting after it,” he said. “If we’re in camp and we’re going head to head at 2 o’clock, I’m getting after it. I bust my butt every day. We do a lot of the same things with these kids we did at Fullerton.”

It was almost a surreal scene Thursday night at Anaheim. Hawking was coaching against St. Margaret’s, whose coach, Todd Johnson, played for Hawking at Simi Valley and was his assistant at Fullerton.

“Student against mentor,” Hawking said with a smile.

As they stood side by side during warmups, each had his hand on his nose in a professorial pose. Then each held his hands behind his back, as if playing “Simon Says.”

During the game, each crouched on the court like a general overseeing a battle.

Johnson knew what plays Hawking’s team would run and vice versa. Both ran the same sideline inbounds play that Don MacLean used to score on at Simi Valley. It’s the same play run today by Simi Valley Coach Christian Aurand, a former Hawking player.

“It’s amazing how that play works better when your X is 6 feet 9 instead of 5-9,” Hawking said.

Teacher got the best of pupil, with Anaheim winning, 68-40.

“They don’t know how fortunate they are day in and day out to be coached by someone with his experience,” Johnson said.

Hawking was expected to return to college coaching this season. He pursued the coaching position at College of the Canyons in Valencia last summer, but when the school promoted assistant Howard Fisher, Hawking sought the Anaheim job so he could continue watching his son, Quinn, play basketball.

Quinn, a 6-4 senior who’s a prolific three-point shooter, decided he wanted to play for his father. He transferred from El Dorado and is averaging 27 points for Anaheim (8-8).

Working with Quinn is special for Hawking. He coached his oldest son, Butch, point guard on Simi Valley’s 1988 Southern Section 4-A championship team. Dad supposedly has mellowed, but don’t tell that to Quinn.

“Every day in practice something goes on,” he said. “Sometimes he’s yelling at me for being lazy. I represent him in a way. I have to be going hard all the time.”

Said Hawking: “I was very hard on Butch because I didn’t want anybody to draw the conclusion I was giving him a break, so at times I was totally unfair. With Quinn, I’m a little bit unfair, but not a total jerk every day.”

Father and son are together every day, including the ride home.

“He’s usually telling me what a good coach I am,” Hawking said, teasingly.

Quinn was 5 when his father last coached at Simi Valley. Those were the days he’d run around the gym during games or be picked up on his shoulders by the 6-10 MacLean, UCLA’s all-time scoring leader now with the Miami Heat.

The 1980s were the glory days of basketball in the region, with some great coaching matchups. Hawking was going head to head with Bobby Braswell from Cleveland, Ken Barone from Newbury Park, John Harbour from Camarillo and Ed Chevalier from Thousand Oaks.

“It holds a very dear spot in my heart,” Hawking said of the Pioneers. “I still have strong ties to that program and fond memories for what we started.”

Quinn’s decision to transfer was risky, since he would have been playing for one of the top teams in Orange County had he not left El Dorado. But he and his father are making the most of an uncertain adventure.

“The challenge for him is to lead us to a championship somehow, someway, with him being a marked man,” Hawking said. “The wins are so much more special here. Every time we take the floor, we’re the underdog and when we do pull off the upset, it’s a great feeling.”

It’s not only Quinn receiving a quality education. So are his teammates. Mitchell, a 6-3 junior, said he quit the team last season because he wasn’t having fun. With Hawking, he’s learning about basketball and life.

“He listens to our problems,” Mitchell said. “He’s more like a friend.”

Hawking isn’t bitter about his days at Fullerton, only disappointed that he was another casualty in the volatile college coaching profession.

“I knew it was going to be tough,” he said. “All you have to do is look at the transaction column. After every season, there are a lot of good coaches that go by the wayside. You’re under the microscope and no matter what hand you are dealt, they expect you to pull a full house.”

It would not be a surprise to see Hawking return to college coaching next season. He turned down an assistant job at UC Santa Barbara right after accepting the Anaheim position.

The next few months, he’ll be the dedicated physical education chairman and basketball coach at Anaheim. Players will receive insights and lessons their peers can only dream of. All Hawking promises is his best.

“I still have a high-energy level and a passion for doing this,” he said.

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Eric Sondheimer’s column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422 or eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.