Catching Up With: Pat Douglass

Amara Aguilar

There is something about being courtside on the floor at a

basketball game with all the players that drives coach Pat Douglass.

Maybe it’s the crowd roaring behind him or the intensity of the action

on the court.

Maybe it’s the strategy involved in leading a team to victory or the

interaction a coach has with his players.

Maybe it’s one of those things. Maybe it’s all of them.

“Ever since I can remember I wanted to go into coaching,” said

Douglass, the UC Irvine men’s basketball coach. “I’ve always been

intrigued by the different facets of coaching--the knowledge and

psychological aspects of molding a team.”

Douglass, a native of Tennessee, began playing basketball in the third

grade at local schoolyards. In fifth grade, he got involved in organized

basketball and continued playing through high school.

Attending Los Angeles Laker games with his high school coach was one

experience that fed Douglass’ desire to coach basketball.

“I remember the energy level, the crowd, the team and the countering

of two teams going against one another and the exhilaration and the

energy level that was there,” Douglass said.

“Trying to bring all that together, meshing personalities, skills and

techniques really allows for my slight creative abilities and allows me

to be part of something that is high energy.”

Coaching feeds Douglass’ adrenaline level. And from the looks of

things, he’s hooked.

This season, Douglass begins his fifth season as head coach at UC

Irvine. He has been coaching for 20 years at four-year colleges.

Last season, Douglass was named Big West Conference Coach of the Year

after he led the Anteaters to their first conference championship in

school history. UCI finished with a 25-5 overall record to set a school

record for most wins in a single season.

“I definitely envisioned what happened last year,” Douglass said. “It

took a lot of steps -- working with kids, we had to recruit to have

enough players to compete.”

Now the UCI men’s basketball program is thriving. On Friday night, the

team defeated Korabel (Ukraine), 105-71, in an exhibition game at the

Bren Events Center in front of a crowd of 1,126.

Before coaching at UC Irvine, Douglass had a successful run at Cal

State Bakersfield. He led the Roadrunners to Division II national

championships in 1993, ’94 and ’97.

While basketball has been a major part of Douglass’ life since he was

a child, it doesn’t consume all of his time.

He still shoots around on the basketball court every now and then, but

doesn’t really watch much basketball at home.

“I’ll watch segments of basketball games, three to five minutes

maybe,” Douglass said. “I’d rather watch the Biography or History

channels.”

On his spare time, Douglass also plays golf. He said he enjoys the

sport because it’s like basketball in that it can never be mastered.

Although Douglass enjoys himself on the fairways from time to time,

when it comes to getting a rush, it’s coaching basketball that he turns

to.

“Not many other things can match (coaching),” Douglass said. “I have

an opportunity to duplicate that (high energy) experience over the

season. A lot of people have the opportunity to do that in other ways,

but this is the way I am able to do it.”