by Eric Yang
Staff Writer

Derek Witt’s journey to become the head coach of the women’s basketball team at Shoreline Community College began he was very young.

Witt watched his father coach as he played baseball and basketball in high school. However, his dad only coached him in basketball.

“It was a great learning experience and I truly enjoyed it,” said Witt.

His favorite teams and players while growing up were the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, whose star players were Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Then, when Michael Jordan was in his prime, he loved watching him just like everyone else.

“I liked these players not just for what they do on the court,” said Witt. “They were the hardest workers on their team and put in the hours of practice that made them so good.”

One of his favorite coaches is Rick Pitino, who now coaches at University of Louisville. He was leading the University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball team when Witt when became one of his fans.

Witt became interested in coaching because his father was a coach, and learned the intricacies of the game from him. His father was a high school coach for 25 years and through him, Witt made a lot of contacts in the college basketball world.

Witt was an assistant high school coach for four years and got his first assistant coaching job on the men’s side of a junior college in Kansas and within two years won a championship where he coached players who moved on to other universities.

Then with those accomplishments on his resume, he got his first full time job in state fair community college in Missouri.

“Coaching is like being a student or athlete,” said Witt. “Once you stop growing and learning and you become stagnant, then people pass you by.”

Witt shows how much he loves coaching at this level and what clearly identifies what he is trying to do with SCC’s women’s basketball team. “”My expectations are we work hard at competing each and everyday, said Witt.” “We have a motto to ‘be better today then we were yesterday’. When we do those two things consistently, my expectations will be met. We want to be as successful as possible and be a good representative for Shoreline.”

SCC Athletics Director Doug Palmer was quick to praise the potential success of the team this year. “I think he is very organized and energetic and he brings energy to the program,” said Palmer. “This is what we needed here and I am very happy from what I have seen so far.”

“My expectations are to rebuild this program this year and to clean up the image,” said Palmer. “He (Witt) has pushed these kids hard so far in pre-season and practice, plus workouts, but all the kids like him and respect him.”

“I ask our team to play up tempo and mistakes come naturally, but I tolerate more physical mistakes than mental ones,” said Witt. “Our philosophy is always playing for the next play.”