Rand's Retirement Tribute
Anyone who knows me knows basketball has always been a big part of my life. I feel like most things in my life that are good I owe to basketball. If it weren't for basketball I wouldn't have met Andrew, wouldn't have had our awesome Chance, I wouldn't have had my education, my job, and all the amazing travels and life experiences I've had so far. Basketball has seen me through some hard times and it is just really meaningful to me.
My high school coach is retiring from teaching and coaching, and a book is being assembled to compile some memories from his players.
I wanted to share what I wrote to him on my blog so I have it later if I want it!
I have loved basketball as long as I can remember and spent every free minute practicing in my driveway. I would practice ball handling, dribbling, free throws, and jumpers over and over, every night, rain or shine until my mom called me inside. I grew up in a neighborhood surrounded by boys, and I wanted to be the best. I had played for some tough coaches growing up, and the first time I met Rand and saw his classroom decorated with athletes who had played at the next level I knew I wanted to be part of his program.
If I had to use one word to sum up my time playing basketball at Bingham High School as part of Rand’s program (aside from terrifying!) it would be memorable. Memorable in more ways than I can count. Learning and growing from Rand as a student and an athlete changed my life, and now that I’m grown and have my own career and family, there are many times even today I reflect on my time playing for Rand and appreciate not just the lessons of the game, but the life lessons he instilled in me. He demanded perfection on and off the court, and although he scared the hell out of me, I loved the idea of playing for a successful program and someone who could challenge and push me to be better.
I was a cocky freshman when I showed up for tryouts at Bingham High School. I distinctly remember thinking I was the cool kid on the block in my black and gold Allen Iverson sneakers. From day one Rand kept me on my toes. I’ll never forget tryouts. At the time I considered myself a good player, if not one of the best around. I felt like I had a good showing at tryouts and it never occured to me that I wouldn’t make the team. On the final day of tryouts Rand called each one of us up to talk to us individually. I kept shooting hoops for what felt like eternity as he called everyone up to talk with them. Everyone but me. I kept thinking he would call my name but he kept skipping past me. Finally after everyone else had been dismissed he called my name. After talking my ear off for about 30 minutes and nearly scaring me to death he finally told me I had made the team. Rand chose me dead last that for his team that day. Little did I know this was just the beginning of an ongoing life lesson he would teach me: humility!
From day one on his team I was convinced Rand did not like me. It would be an understatement to say we didn’t get off to a good start. My first assignment as a freshman on his team was to memorize everyone’s name. If me or any other freshman failed this assignment, the whole team would have to run a “Texas” sprint (which to my 14 year-old self was pretty much a death sentence). I practiced all week to memorize not just everyone’s first and last, but even middle name. I admittedly studied harder for this task than I ever studied on any test in school. When practice arrived Rand called on me first to recite names and I was ready. I stood in the huddle confidently and quickly cranked through everyone’s full name. I had just finished naming the whole team and went to take my place back in line with a smug when Rand pointed at the coaches. What? We were supposed to name the coaches? I got through a few: Rand, Charron, Todd. Then there was one more coach left. I didn’t know his name yet but he kind of scared me as well because he was absolutely humongous. I panicked. The tall guy must have seen the fear in my eyes because while I was desperately trying to recall his name he started mouthing it to try and help me out. Shelly? Delly? I had no idea what he was saying. I glanced frantically around the circle, silently pleading for someone else to help me but all I got were blank, pissed off stares. The only movement I could see was that of Natalie Barney, shaking her head at me with a piercing stare that said “you are so dead.” To my horror Rand blew his whistle and said “on the baseline.” We ran long and hard that day, and my fear for both Rand and Natalie Barney grew 10 times.
Rand pushed me hard in practice. It felt like he called me out a lot. He tried every approach with me. He’d yell, be nice, then yell again. As I mentioned I was cocky, and he was initially very frustrated with me, especially when we found ourselves in the fourth quarter of the Skyline game at home.
Skyline was blowing us out. I think we were down by at least twenty points when Rand put all his reserves in, including my freshman self. Skyline had decided to stall. Rand told us to stand back and not guard them. We were in an all-out standoff and I couldn’t take it. We were losing! We needed to get the ball back! I ignored Rand’s call to stand back and told the team to get up and play. I got up on them and guarded them and tried to get the ball back. I must have fouled or something because there was a dead ball shortly after and Rand called a timeout. I locked eyes with him while jogging off the court and took one look at him and knew I was busted big time. He was fuming mad that I had ignored his call to stand down. Instead of listening to him, I started arguing with him that we were losing and shouldn’t be stalling. He looked me in the eyes and pointed to the locker room and said “get out of here.” I couldn’t believe it. I had never been kicked out of a game. While the fourth quarter played on I sat in the locker fuming. What was he thinking pulling me out? I could have brought us back! My competitive self was fuming. It didn’t even occur to me that I should be scared of the repercussions of my actions until the team and coaches entered the locker room. Normally Rand would speak first but this time all the assistants spoke. While they touched on what we could have been better in the game, Rand and I had an all-out staring contest. He stood there, arms folded, and glared at me. I couldn’t be the first one to break eye contact so I glared right back at him. I wasn’t going to look away, I couldn’t let him win this! I knew better. I was fourteen after all. The longer we stared at each other the more scared I got (I swear I was sweating and shaking inwardly), but I couldn’t let him see it. Finally, after all the coaches had spoken, he points directly at me and says “Will someone please explain to GOD why I did what I did?” As some of the captains answered explaining he was wanting the other team to call a timeout and change out their starters the gravity of what I had done started settling in. My teammates were looking at me like it might be the last time I would see them. I also started to realize how mad Rand really was. As the coaches started to leave the locker room Rand picked up a roll of tape and threw it as hard as he could, narrowly missing Kim Roberts’ forehead.He was pissed and I was screwed. After he left, the tiny bit of courage I had left escaped me and I started bawling. I was convinced I was going to be kicked off the team, and that my basketball career was over and my hopes and dreams were done and gone forever. Practice was at 6am the next morning, so naturally I arrived at 5am. I had to beat Rand to the gym, beg for his forgiveness, and save my future! Apologizing to Rand that morning was one of the scariest things I had done up to that point in my life, but after some groveling on my end, we were done talking and he told me to suit up for practice. As I turned to leave I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes and even what could have even been a smile as I ran off to the locker room.
From then on I knew Rand liked me even though I drove him crazy. I quickly learned that him yelling was like a compliment on this team. He pushed me hard and continued to ride me in practice, but I started to know it was because he believed in me, our team, and my future.
My sophomore year was fun. We had built a strong team with some cool captains who were pretty creative. For our team photos, someone suggested we take them on the high school roof. Naturally we all thought this would be a great idea, especially since it was illegal to access. One day after practice our team got showered, did our hair and makeup, put on our uniforms and snuck to the side of the high school where we had found a way to get up to the roof. We took turns boosting each other up onto the roof (which was super sketchy looking back!), careful not to be too loud and get caught. We all took our place on the roof as someone below took the photo (which ended up looking sweet by the way). Unfortunately, as we were headed down off the roof the janitor happened to be up there doing some work up there and we were so busted. The janitor (who I distinctly remember looking and acting eerily similar to Argus Filch from Harry Potter) angrily walked us down to the principal’s office. We were all nervous but hid it by laughing it off and joking that “they’re not going to expel all of us!” At the principal’s office we were lightly reprimanded and thought we were in the clear until he told us we needed to go tell Rand what had happened. Now we were scared. We had no idea how he’d react or how much we would have to run for this one. Before going to his room we all went down and got a diet coke from the vending machine. We each walked into his portable and faced him where he sat at his desk. Then, one at a time, we delivered our diet coke to him and said “I’m sorry”. He had no idea what was going on until one of our captains explained what had happened. We all fearfully awaited our conditioning sentence when to our surprise Rand started laughing and told us how much he loved the team unity. We were all relieved that day.
2007 was a good year. It was my senior year of high school, I had a scholarship to go play at Southern Utah University, and it was the year we won state. I was lucky enough to be a co-captain with Megan Marks that year, and this team and season were magical.
One of the biggest things I’ll never forget going into the state tournament was the unwavering knowledge that our team had something special. We were close, had overcome some adversity that season (loses to Riverton and Davis...boo) but had grown from it and were ready to come together and win. It started with Rand. I will always remember the feeling of absolute confidence that trickled down from the coaching staff. It wasn’t a false confidence either. In every way, our team was prepared. Our coaches worked hard for our team. They knew everything about each opponent, had full scouting reports, and prepped us in every way possible. As captains, we knew our teammates, and had created a sense of team unity and trust in each other that could only be described as special. From the head coach down to the last seat on the bench we were in sync. In the state playoffs we won every game in the state playoffs by at least 20 points. It’s been over eleven years since that time and I still look back on it as one of my fondest memories.
There are a lot of things I appreciate about Rand. Anyone who has a drive and passion for success automatically has respect in my book, but more importantly anyone who can dedicate his life to contributing to the success of thousands of teenage boys and girls, and have such an influence in their lives, both on and off the court is something to be celebrated.
Like I mentioned earlier, playing for Rand Rasmussen changed my life. Because of Rand I have come to appreciate value and hard work. I had a taste of success during our time together and it taught me that the only limits I have are the ones I set for myself. His program taught me the importance of being on time, overcoming adversity, and that when people get together with a common goal anything is possible.
Rand, thank you for everything. Your tactics have always been unique, but they worked for me. Enjoy your retirement, you’ve earned it.
Lots of love,
“Sam”
My high school coach is retiring from teaching and coaching, and a book is being assembled to compile some memories from his players.
I wanted to share what I wrote to him on my blog so I have it later if I want it!
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| source |
Thoughts on Rand
By: Stephanie “Sam” Christensen (Sampson)
2003-2007
If I had to use one word to sum up my time playing basketball at Bingham High School as part of Rand’s program (aside from terrifying!) it would be memorable. Memorable in more ways than I can count. Learning and growing from Rand as a student and an athlete changed my life, and now that I’m grown and have my own career and family, there are many times even today I reflect on my time playing for Rand and appreciate not just the lessons of the game, but the life lessons he instilled in me. He demanded perfection on and off the court, and although he scared the hell out of me, I loved the idea of playing for a successful program and someone who could challenge and push me to be better.
I was a cocky freshman when I showed up for tryouts at Bingham High School. I distinctly remember thinking I was the cool kid on the block in my black and gold Allen Iverson sneakers. From day one Rand kept me on my toes. I’ll never forget tryouts. At the time I considered myself a good player, if not one of the best around. I felt like I had a good showing at tryouts and it never occured to me that I wouldn’t make the team. On the final day of tryouts Rand called each one of us up to talk to us individually. I kept shooting hoops for what felt like eternity as he called everyone up to talk with them. Everyone but me. I kept thinking he would call my name but he kept skipping past me. Finally after everyone else had been dismissed he called my name. After talking my ear off for about 30 minutes and nearly scaring me to death he finally told me I had made the team. Rand chose me dead last that for his team that day. Little did I know this was just the beginning of an ongoing life lesson he would teach me: humility!
From day one on his team I was convinced Rand did not like me. It would be an understatement to say we didn’t get off to a good start. My first assignment as a freshman on his team was to memorize everyone’s name. If me or any other freshman failed this assignment, the whole team would have to run a “Texas” sprint (which to my 14 year-old self was pretty much a death sentence). I practiced all week to memorize not just everyone’s first and last, but even middle name. I admittedly studied harder for this task than I ever studied on any test in school. When practice arrived Rand called on me first to recite names and I was ready. I stood in the huddle confidently and quickly cranked through everyone’s full name. I had just finished naming the whole team and went to take my place back in line with a smug when Rand pointed at the coaches. What? We were supposed to name the coaches? I got through a few: Rand, Charron, Todd. Then there was one more coach left. I didn’t know his name yet but he kind of scared me as well because he was absolutely humongous. I panicked. The tall guy must have seen the fear in my eyes because while I was desperately trying to recall his name he started mouthing it to try and help me out. Shelly? Delly? I had no idea what he was saying. I glanced frantically around the circle, silently pleading for someone else to help me but all I got were blank, pissed off stares. The only movement I could see was that of Natalie Barney, shaking her head at me with a piercing stare that said “you are so dead.” To my horror Rand blew his whistle and said “on the baseline.” We ran long and hard that day, and my fear for both Rand and Natalie Barney grew 10 times.
Rand pushed me hard in practice. It felt like he called me out a lot. He tried every approach with me. He’d yell, be nice, then yell again. As I mentioned I was cocky, and he was initially very frustrated with me, especially when we found ourselves in the fourth quarter of the Skyline game at home.
Skyline was blowing us out. I think we were down by at least twenty points when Rand put all his reserves in, including my freshman self. Skyline had decided to stall. Rand told us to stand back and not guard them. We were in an all-out standoff and I couldn’t take it. We were losing! We needed to get the ball back! I ignored Rand’s call to stand back and told the team to get up and play. I got up on them and guarded them and tried to get the ball back. I must have fouled or something because there was a dead ball shortly after and Rand called a timeout. I locked eyes with him while jogging off the court and took one look at him and knew I was busted big time. He was fuming mad that I had ignored his call to stand down. Instead of listening to him, I started arguing with him that we were losing and shouldn’t be stalling. He looked me in the eyes and pointed to the locker room and said “get out of here.” I couldn’t believe it. I had never been kicked out of a game. While the fourth quarter played on I sat in the locker fuming. What was he thinking pulling me out? I could have brought us back! My competitive self was fuming. It didn’t even occur to me that I should be scared of the repercussions of my actions until the team and coaches entered the locker room. Normally Rand would speak first but this time all the assistants spoke. While they touched on what we could have been better in the game, Rand and I had an all-out staring contest. He stood there, arms folded, and glared at me. I couldn’t be the first one to break eye contact so I glared right back at him. I wasn’t going to look away, I couldn’t let him win this! I knew better. I was fourteen after all. The longer we stared at each other the more scared I got (I swear I was sweating and shaking inwardly), but I couldn’t let him see it. Finally, after all the coaches had spoken, he points directly at me and says “Will someone please explain to GOD why I did what I did?” As some of the captains answered explaining he was wanting the other team to call a timeout and change out their starters the gravity of what I had done started settling in. My teammates were looking at me like it might be the last time I would see them. I also started to realize how mad Rand really was. As the coaches started to leave the locker room Rand picked up a roll of tape and threw it as hard as he could, narrowly missing Kim Roberts’ forehead.He was pissed and I was screwed. After he left, the tiny bit of courage I had left escaped me and I started bawling. I was convinced I was going to be kicked off the team, and that my basketball career was over and my hopes and dreams were done and gone forever. Practice was at 6am the next morning, so naturally I arrived at 5am. I had to beat Rand to the gym, beg for his forgiveness, and save my future! Apologizing to Rand that morning was one of the scariest things I had done up to that point in my life, but after some groveling on my end, we were done talking and he told me to suit up for practice. As I turned to leave I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes and even what could have even been a smile as I ran off to the locker room.
From then on I knew Rand liked me even though I drove him crazy. I quickly learned that him yelling was like a compliment on this team. He pushed me hard and continued to ride me in practice, but I started to know it was because he believed in me, our team, and my future.
My sophomore year was fun. We had built a strong team with some cool captains who were pretty creative. For our team photos, someone suggested we take them on the high school roof. Naturally we all thought this would be a great idea, especially since it was illegal to access. One day after practice our team got showered, did our hair and makeup, put on our uniforms and snuck to the side of the high school where we had found a way to get up to the roof. We took turns boosting each other up onto the roof (which was super sketchy looking back!), careful not to be too loud and get caught. We all took our place on the roof as someone below took the photo (which ended up looking sweet by the way). Unfortunately, as we were headed down off the roof the janitor happened to be up there doing some work up there and we were so busted. The janitor (who I distinctly remember looking and acting eerily similar to Argus Filch from Harry Potter) angrily walked us down to the principal’s office. We were all nervous but hid it by laughing it off and joking that “they’re not going to expel all of us!” At the principal’s office we were lightly reprimanded and thought we were in the clear until he told us we needed to go tell Rand what had happened. Now we were scared. We had no idea how he’d react or how much we would have to run for this one. Before going to his room we all went down and got a diet coke from the vending machine. We each walked into his portable and faced him where he sat at his desk. Then, one at a time, we delivered our diet coke to him and said “I’m sorry”. He had no idea what was going on until one of our captains explained what had happened. We all fearfully awaited our conditioning sentence when to our surprise Rand started laughing and told us how much he loved the team unity. We were all relieved that day.
2007 was a good year. It was my senior year of high school, I had a scholarship to go play at Southern Utah University, and it was the year we won state. I was lucky enough to be a co-captain with Megan Marks that year, and this team and season were magical.
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| source |
There are a lot of things I appreciate about Rand. Anyone who has a drive and passion for success automatically has respect in my book, but more importantly anyone who can dedicate his life to contributing to the success of thousands of teenage boys and girls, and have such an influence in their lives, both on and off the court is something to be celebrated.
Like I mentioned earlier, playing for Rand Rasmussen changed my life. Because of Rand I have come to appreciate value and hard work. I had a taste of success during our time together and it taught me that the only limits I have are the ones I set for myself. His program taught me the importance of being on time, overcoming adversity, and that when people get together with a common goal anything is possible.
Rand, thank you for everything. Your tactics have always been unique, but they worked for me. Enjoy your retirement, you’ve earned it.
Lots of love,
“Sam”
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