Bigfork hires boys basketball coach, teacher

Bigfork High School administrators

filled the vacant head boys basketball position last week with the

hiring of Kurt Paulson.

Paulson is a 2001 graduate of Whitefish

High School. As a Bulldog, he played basketball and football and

competed in track. He earned All-state honors twice each in both

basketball and football. Paulson was on the 1999 Bulldog basketball

team that took third place in the Class A state tournament.

After high school, Paulson played

basketball at Carroll College and served as the starting point

guard. In 2006 he helped the Saints make it to the NAIA Elite 8 and

the Fab Four in 2005.

He graduated from Carroll in 2006 with

a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and health and

physical education/sports management. Once out of college, Paulson

served as an assistant coach for Carroll’s men’s basketball team

for two years, and for the past two years he has been a graduate

assistant coach at the University of Montana.

“I’m just so excited about helping

these boys become the best basketball players they can be, and to

help make basketball a fun sport to be a part of at Bigfork,”

Paulson said.

Paulson is the third person to hold the

head boys basketball coaching position since long-time coach Jim

Epperly resigned following the 2007-2008 season. Lyle Whiteman

coached the team the following year and Paul La Mott led the team

the past two seasons. Both coaches’ tenures were ended due to not

being recommended for rehire by the Bigfork administration.

Paulson had his first chance to meet

and work with potential members of next season’s Bigfork boys

basketball team Monday. He held an open gym after school that was

attended by about a dozen athletes.

“I was very pleased after the first day

and very excited,” Paulson said. “It will be fun to get to know

them more as time goes on.”

The new coach admits that the turn

around is quick, as his hiring was only confirmed Friday by the

school board at a special meeting that was held to vote on the

approval of the Bigfork Area Education Association collective

bargaining agreement and the hiring of two other staff members.

“One of my main reasons for trying to

get things rolling, because it’s kind of short notice since I just

got hired, it is my opinion that we’re kind of behind,” Paulson

said. “That’s why I’m working on getting them in the gym and

getting them caught up.”

Paulson is taking two groups of Bigfork

boys to the University of Montana team camp this weekend in

Missoula, which he hopes will help get the program moving in a

forward direction again.

“I’m going to give them some plays to

run on offense and some philosophies to try to work on on defense

this week and we’ll see how they do with it,” Paulson said. “The

camp will be a good opportunity for me to see what they are capable

of and evaluate where we are at.”

Since Paulson was coaching in Missoula

the past two basketball seasons, and in Helena prior to that, he

has not seen this group of Bigfork athletes play basketball.

“Having not been able to watch them

play in a game situation, it seems like they’re a good group of

kids and there is a good group of seniors that have a lot of solid

game experience and leadership,” Paulson said. “I’m going to come

in and probably just take it from where they left off. I’m also

going to have my own philosophies and techniques as well. Since I

haven’t seen them play, there are some advantages in that I can

evaluate all of them from scratch without already knowing anything

about them. Everyone has a clean slate.”

Paulson’s lack of knowledge of the team

does present a challenge in regards to knowing what playing style

he will have his team run.

“I’m big on adapting the style of play

you have to the type of kids on the team,” Paulson said. “I like

playing up tempo games and having the boys get up and down the

court fast and scoring points quickly. However, that is only if

that style fits our team and helps us win games.”

Paulson should have plenty of time to

get to know his athletes and their playing strengths and weaknesses

this summer. He will be holding regular open gyms and intends to

take the boys to three or four camps this summer.

“I’m going to try to push as much open

gym and as much weight room time, as I can,” Paulson said. “I want

them to play as much basketball as possible. I know with a school

like Bigfork that athletes are playing multiple sports and that

they need to work on them during the summer too. I’m OK with that,

and I’m a supporter of playing other sports.”

While Paulson is getting acquainted

with his new team, he will also have to get used to the idea of

being a Viking and to being on the other end of the

Bigfork-Whitefish rivalry.

“It will be sort of an adjustment, but

I’ve always had a lot of respect for Bigfork athletics and the

coaches that were here before me,” Paulson said. “Also, I’ve been

out of school for 10 years, so those sort of things tend to go away

in time. I’m excited about Bigfork. The great thing is the coaches

in the other programs and the teachers and the other staff members

have been really helpful in acclimating me to the school and the

students. They have all been so welcoming.”

FACULTY DUTIES

In addition to running the boys

basketball program at Bigfork, Paulson will serve as assistant

activities director. He will take the lead on the middle school

activities programs and assist current high school activities

director Matt Porrovecchio with the freshman through senior

program. Current Bigfork Middle School activities director and dean

of students Cory Pierce, has verbally resigned from Bigfork as he

is taking a principal job in West Glacier next year. His official

resignation is expected to be accepted by the board at next

Wednesday’s meeting.

Paulson is also being hired for a P.E.

and health teaching position that, combined with his activities

director duties, will make him a full-time district staff

member.

“I’m pretty excited,” Paulson said of

the setup. “I think it will be a fun change-up in the day to have

two different roles. Then I’ll also have basketball after school

and before school. So, it will be challenge and it will be

time-consuming, but I think it will be a good spot for me. I’m

young and I have a lot of energy, so I think I will do well with

it. I’m just really happy and thankful for this opportunity.”

Paulson will split his time between the

high school and the elementary and middle school and will join

current P.E. and health teachers Sue Loeffler and Epperly.

“Principals at both schools have been

saying for some time that the P.E. classes have been a little bit

bigger than they should be,” said Bigfork superintendent Cynthia

Clary. “Kurt will fill that need for us. Also, he will help us get

our strength and conditioning program back on the schedule. With

the overcrowding in all of the classes, it was something that was

taken off the schedule. There is obviously a need for it, and it is

something we want to get back because it is an important part of

keeping our kids healthy and preventing injuries.”

Paulson is currently working on his

Masters in Education from the University of Montana, which he

intends to have completed this summer.

“While at Carroll College and the

University of Montana he was actively involved in coaching,

coordinating and working various high school camps,” said

Porrovecchio in a statement to the Bigfork school board. “He is

very excited about the prospect of returning to the Flathead Valley

to teach at BHS and join his family already in the area.”