On Monday, Western Nebraska Community College Athletic Department announced the hiring of a new men’s basketball coach. Russ Beck knows what it takes to reach the national tournament having had successful stops as an assistant coach at Salt Lake Community College and the College of Southern Idaho. Beck will now get a chance to bring that national tournament knowledge to WNCC. Beck takes over for Brian Joyce, who resigned in June to take an assistant coaching position at Liberty University.
“It is a huge honor to be the head coach at WNCC. The Cougars have a storied history and tradition and I am very excited to be a part of that,” Beck said. “I have worked at some of the best junior colleges in the country, and I am continuing that trend in taking this job at WNCC.”
Beck has had plenty of success on the coaching circuit. Beck was an assistant last season at CSI, helping the Golden Eagles to a 22-9 record and a third-place finish in the Scenic West Athletic Conference.
“It means everything to me that Dr. Ely, Ms. Pedersen, and all the people in the community are giving me the opportunity to continue to head this program in the right direction, back to national prominence.”
Before coming to CSI, Beck was an assistant at SLCC, helping the Bruins to a second-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. He also recruited NJCAA Tournament MVP, DJ Wright to Salt Lake last season.
Beck also spent a year as an assistant coach at Southern Utah University under head coach Bill Evans, and also coached under former Region 18 coaches Jeff Kidder and Jon Judkins at Dixie State College. While at DSC, he helped the Rebels to a No. 1 national ranking.
Beck hopes to follow in the footsteps of the Cougars’ two legendary coaches – Ron Brillhart and Soupy Campbell – and bring a championship feel back to Cougar Palace. It was that rich basketball tradition that brought Beck to the thought of coaching at WNCC.
“I know we have had two hall of fame coaches, Soupy Campbell and Ron Brillhart. I know we have a great following, great fans, a great booster club, and a great facility,” Beck commented. “The town is very similar to Twin Falls in Idaho. The program is a great source of pride for the community. I know we have had great teams travel to the national tournament many times, and we hope to increase that number many times more.”
Beck is not worried about achieving individual success as much as bringing success to the college and the community.
“Ideally it would be great [to be a Hall of Fame coach], but I think that honor is not just earned by the coach; that is earned by a community and a program,” he said. “I am not too worried about individual awards; I think those come when you have a great program. I think we can continue to build a successful program with what we have, including all the fans, the boosters, all the administrators and faculty. If honors come to the players, to the school, or to me that will all a by-product to winning and doing things the right way.”
Beck has little time to get things ready for the upcoming season since classes start Aug. 19. Returning players as well as the incoming freshman are eager to meet the new head coach.
“I have a few scholarships left and I am going out to find the guys that can complement the returners,” Beck added. “Obviously, the first thing I did was get in contact with all of the players that are returning or that Coach Joyce signed and see if they are still on board. Everything has been very positive. I know Scott Bamforth is really excited and Scott informed me that Paco [Francisco Cruz] will be ready to go and ready to win a regional title.”
Bamforth and Cruz were the leading scorers a year ago for the Cougars, combining for over 1,100 points and 120 3-pointers made. WNCC finished last season with a 25-7 record, which was the best mark in Region IX.
The other thing that Beck has to do is complete a basketball schedule. He is hoping to fill with some top-notch teams. Beck already has been in contact with CSI, Midland College and Indian Hills Community College about scheduling games.
“I know the fans are eager to see great basketball and I would like to fill the gym,” he said. “I am not a believer in having too many all-star teams coming in to play us. I think a little bit of adversity early on makes us stronger in the end. I think when you play the best teams, you know where you are, and I think we are one of the best teams in the country. If WNCC is going to justify that, we need to go out and play some of the best teams in the country.”
“We also intend to put an emphasis on academics and will seek to help all our guys graduate and move on to play at the next level,” Beck added.
Beck will try to make a visit to Scottsbluff to start the building the foundation of a championship program later in the week.
“What a place to start my head coaching career at but Western Nebraska, which is one of the top five jobs in the country with great history and great tradition,” Beck commented. “They had great players come through the program. I am excited about the support the program has and getting out in the community and meeting people.
“We have a young family. My wife, Charity, and I have been married eight years and we have three children, two girls ages 6 and 3 [Leilani and Briana], and a brand new son, Ryker. We are looking to lay down some roots. We would like to be in Scottsbluff as long as we can and hang as many championship banners as we can here.”
