Magnolia’s Walin Takes a Rocky Road to 400th Victory
The round of hugs was over. The high-fives had long ended.
It wasn’t until much later Friday night, when Al Walin walked alone into Magnolia’s empty gym, that the significance of his 400th coaching victory became clear.
The Magnolia coach walked to center court and glanced at the pictures and jerseys of former players Mike Goff and Zamiro Bennem that adorned the wall.
Walin thought of Goff, the star forward who once scored 53 points in a game but died from health problems less than two years after graduating. And he thought of Bennem, the standout guard who went on to play for UC Irvine.
That’s when the emotions started to flow. Walin’s milestone victory was as much for them, and the others who have passed through the program, as it was for the man who accomplished the feat despite less-than-ideal circumstances.
Sure, there have been plenty of highs during Walin’s 27-year tenure, the longest of any active boys’ basketball coach in Orange County. Five Orange League championships. A couple of 23-victory seasons. Playoff berths the last 10 seasons.
But there have been devastating lows as well, Goff’s death topping the list.
“As long as I have done this, there’s been a lot of frustration and headaches to go with the job,” said Walin, who turns 62 in March. “But it’s something I love to do and I stayed with it.”
A big part of the reason he’s stayed has been his players. A good deal of talent has flowed through the program over the last decade, Walin acknowledged, but no one has been more impressive than Geoffrey Clayton. The junior guard scored a game-high 20 points Friday for the Sentinels, who defeated Western, 46-39, to give Walin his 400th win.
Clayton, who averages 24.2 points per game, is already the school’s all-time leading scorer. He is the only player to start for Walin as a freshman and seems destined to be only the third Sentinel to have his jersey retired.
Clayton’s relationship with Walin goes back even before he enrolled at Magnolia. As an eighth-grader, Clayton attended a Magnolia pep rally before a game against Brea Olinda and was shocked to see Walin eating . . . dog biscuits.
Walin was on stage, shouting, “We’re going to beat Brea! We’re going to eat them like dog biscuits!”
“He’s a pretty fun guy most of the time,” Clayton said. “He’s a great coach--but he’s a better person.”
Walin was a pretty good basketball player too. As a part-time starter for Nebraska, he played against the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson.
After graduation in 1962, Walin moved to Colorado and coached for the next seven years at Estes Park High, compiling a 76-46 record. The program had not had a winning season in the 17 years before Walin’s arrival, but he established a tradition of success in a short period.
In 1969, Walin joined Magnolia’s coaching staff as an assistant. Five years later, he took over the head coaching duties.
But the early years were tough. The Sentinels, who then played in the Sunset and Century leagues, were “in over our heads,” Walin said. “We were hanging, hanging, hanging. We weren’t nearly as quick as we are today.”
Things got worse when the school’s enrollment dipped from 2,300 in the mid-1970s to 1,300 in the early 1980s, draining the talent pool.
Then, in 1990, Walin was diagnosed with colon cancer. He had surgery to remove the tumors.
But like every other obstacle, cancer only seemed to make Walin stronger. He returned to the basketball court, and soon thereafter, an influx of local talent made the Sentinels a league contender almost every season.
“[Walin] doesn’t believe in recruiting players,” Magnolia small forward Vincent Bryant said. “We just go with what we have and go 100%.”
This year’s team got off to a 4-8 start without senior wing player Rohneal Coleman, whose aunt took him off the team until he improved his grades. But the Sentinels have won nine of their last 10 games since Coleman’s return; their only setback was a two-point loss to Brea Olinda.
Magnolia (13-9, 5-1 Orange League), tied with the Wildcats atop the league standings, gets a chance to move into first place and give Walin victory No. 401 Wednesday when it plays at Brea.
“I think [Walin] ranks up there with the Tom Danleys and Dean Crowleys, guys who have been around at one school for so long,” said Brea Coach Bob Terry, who played against Walin’s teams as a forward for Brea in the late 1980s.
Walin said these Sentinels rank among his all-time favorites.
“It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of great memories over the years, especially with this team since they’ve turned it around,” he said. “These kids were kind of dysfunctional early and got their act together.
“If I was any other coach, I’d hate to play us. Our desire to win is just unbelievable right now.”
Walin never shared his desire to reach 400 wins with his players. In fact, the Sentinels only learned that their coach was approaching the milestone when an assistant coach told them last week. It was typical Walin, keeping the focus away from himself.
“We really tried to get the victory for him,” Clayton said. When Magnolia won, “it was hugs everywhere, everyone giving high-fives. We were excited for him.”
Walin acted like it was “just another victory,” Bryant said.
That is, until later. Until he looked up in the rafters and the emotions began to flow.
LOOKING AHEAD
Top-ranked Mater Dei plays second-ranked Santa Margarita at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Santa Ana College. The Monarchs (20-2, 3-0 Serra League), who beat the Eagles (19-2, 2-1), 71-51, in the teams’ first meeting, would all but wrap up the league title with a win.
Costa Mesa (14-8, 4-2 Pacific Coast League) would tie University atop the league standings if the Mustangs beat the visiting Trojans (13-8, 5-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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BOYS’ BASKETBALL TOP 10
Orange County Sportswriters’ Poll
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Pos. School League Rec Pts 1. Mater Dei (1) Serra 20-2 60 2. Santa Margarita (2) Serra 19-2 54 3. El Toro (4) South Coast 21-2 45 4. Capistrano Valley (3) South Coast 20-3 42 5. Woodbridge (5) Sea View 18-4 34 6. Ocean View (6) Golden West 18-5 30 7. Villa Park (7) Century 17-5 28 8. Sonora (9) Freeway 20-3 17 9. Newport Harbor (10) Sea View 17-5 12 10. Loara (NR) Empire 17-5 4
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*Last week’s ranking in parentheses
Others: El Dorado (18-4), Los Alamitos (14-7)
