FORKS — Kasey Ulin went a long way away. But, he made a short trip back to receive an honor as a member of the Forks High School athletic hall of fame.
Ulin, now the head coach at Port Angeles High School, made the 60-mile drive to Forks to be presented with his hall of fame plaque before the Spartans’ home game Friday. The Port Angeles High School boys’ coach put up amazing statistics as a player. He played basketball for the Spartans from 1996 to 2000, scoring 1,587 points in his career and leading the state with 28 points a game his senior year. He was the Evergreen League MVP and made the first-team all state.
“It’s very humbling. It was a special moment,” Ulin said. He thanked Forks coach Rick Gooding for “making the moment happen.”
Ulin said he put in countless hours in the gym and working on his shooting. But, ultimately, the honor “is about other people.
“All of my coaches, my teammates, the community support made it possible,” Ulin said.
After graduating high school, Ulin moved further and further away from Forks. He played at Yakima Valley Community College, leading the conference with a scoring average of 25 a game. He then moved on to Dickinson State in North Dakota, leading the nation with a scoring average of 30.4 points a game. He then played in Europe for seven years for pro teams in Germany, Austria, Macedonia and Luxembourg.
After seven years overseas, he returned to Clallam County, an hours’ drive away from his childhood home, to coach in Port Angeles in 2013.
“I never thought that this would be true, but I enjoy coaching even more than playing,” Ulin said. “It’s a completely different animal” because so many things are out of the coach’s control once the game begins. What he enjoys is the mentoring and building bonds with the players.
Ulin coaches much of the year, taking his players to camps and tournaments during the summers. He said that’s the kind of commitment it takes to build a powerful program. And Ulin thinks the Roughriders, who finished the season 9-3 in league and 13-7 overall and are playing in the postseason tonight, are on a big upswing.
“They’re [players] buying in. It’s fun to see the growth and commitment,” he said.
