Les Doran

Bruce Haroldson has been around basketball his whole life. He even went to the same high school as Phil Jackson. Haroldson got his first coaching job at the age of 21 at Harlowton High School He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and pitched for them for three years, but coaching is where his heart was. In 1967 he became an assistant coach at ASU under legendary Ned Wulk. After seven years at ASU, he accepted the head coaching position at Mesa State College in Colorado. From there he became the head coach at Pacific Lutheran University in Washington State, “retiring” a few years ago. Since then he has been a player scout for the L.A. Clippers and a regional scout for the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting and Portland Fire. He also coaches three-on-three classes at GCC. “I guess I just missed it,” Haroldson said. “I just missed being a coach.” He used to run one of the best basketball camps in the Northwest so this was a natural step for him when he came back to Arizona. “I really enjoy watching kids improve and have an appreciation for the game,” Haroldson said. Going from being in the spotlight as a college head coach and preparing skilled athletes for big games, to teaching three-on-three classes at a community college may appear to be a drastic change, but for Haroldson, it is all the same as long as it’s basketball. “Basically I am a teacher,” Haroldson said. “I am not an egotist. I want to have people walk away from my classes saying ‘that was a great experience and I really learned a lot.’ I know what’s going to happen is they’re going to take this information that I am able to pass along, just like any other teacher, and they’re going to pass it on to someone else. That’s were I get my joy right now.” Haroldson believes that being the “best you can possibly make yourself be” is the real victory in life, and if you lose focus of that then you will never have happiness. He tries to convey that philosophy in his classes and he tries not to let people with lower skill levels feel left behind. He teaches a noon class during the spring semester. For information, go to the Health and Fitness Center and see the secretary to sign up. You can also learn more about Bruce Haroldson at his website www.hoopscoach.net