Born: Dec. 18, 1909 (Boise, Idaho)
Died: Nov. 20, 1962 (Bremerton, Wash.)
Bremerton/West High Boys Varsity - Head Coach (1936 to 1961).
| TEAM | SEASON | LEAGUE | LEAGUE | OVERALL | FINISHED | ||||||||||||||
| W | L | PRC | PF | Avg. | PA | Avg. | +/- | W | L | PRC | PF | Avg. | PA | Avg. | +/- | ||||
| WHS Boys Varsity | 1961-62 | Capital | 7 | 3 | .700 | 589 | 58.9 | 593 | 59.3 | -0.4 | 13 | 7 | .650 | 1199 | 59.9 | 1160 | 58.0 | +1.9 | |
| Olympic | 6 | 4 | .600 | 558 | 55.8 | 512 | 51.2 | +4.6 | |||||||||||
| 1960-61 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 13 | .409 | 889 | 40.4 | 1014 | 46.1 | -5.8 | ||
| 1959-60 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1958-59 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1957-58 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1956-57 | Cross-State | 3 | 8 | .273 | 326 | 29.6 | 348 | 31.6 | -2.0 | 17 | 8 | .680 | 818 | 32.7 | 669 | 26.8 | +60 | WCD | |
| WHS TOTAL | 16 | 15 | .516 | WHS TOTAL | 39 | 38 | .582 | ||||||||||||
|
BHS Boys Varsity |
1955-56 | Olympic | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 17 | 6 | .739 | - | - | - | - | - | OL Champs |
| 1954-55 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - 6th Place | |
| 1953-54 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1952-53 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - 7th Place | |
| 1951-52 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - 3rd Place | |
| 1950-51 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1949-50 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - 1st Round | |
| 1948-49 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - 1st Round | |
| 1947-48 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - Runner-up | |
| 1946-47 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - 6th place | |
| 1945-46 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - Runner-up | |
| 1944-45 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1943-44 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - 6th place | |
| 1942-43 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1941-42 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn - Runner-up | |
| 1940-41 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - Champions | |
| 1939-40 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | State Tourn. - Quarterfinals | |
| 1938-39 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1937-38 | Cross-State | 3 | 8 | .273 | 326 | 29.6 | 348 | 31.6 | -2.0 | 12 | 10 | .545 | 688 | 31.3 | 622 | 28.3 | +3.0 | - | |
| 1936-37 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19 | 11 | .633 | 965 | 32.2 | 821 | 27.3 | +6.8 | WC District | |
| BHS TOTAL | 3 | 8 | .273 | BHS TOTAL | 48 | 27 | .640 | ||||||||||||
| OVERALL TOTAL | 19 | 23 | .452 | OVERALL TOTAL | 472 | 184 | .719 | ||||||||||||
|
LEGEND State - WIAA State Tournement WCD - West Central District Tournament OL - Olympic League |
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"recognized for putting Bremerton basketball on the map . . . Wills taking 15 teams to the state tournament and compiling a 472-164 record" - Wesley Remmer (Kitsap Daily News - 2009, Dec. 10)
"Wills former players remember his as a mentor, friend and colleague who kept the gym open, took his players hiking, and counseled them about life . . .Wills died Nov. 19, 1962, just 15 days after the death of Phil Pesco, his friend, former WSC teammate and neighbor. Wills had been selected by the Bremerton School Board to succeed Pesco as Olympic College basketball coach. Will had no desire to leave the high school, but some school officials were openly jealous of Wills' popularity and wanted him off the Bremerton campus (Kitsap Sun - 2009, Sep. 29)
"He played in the state cage tourney in 1928 and '29 as a member of the Walla Walla Blue Devils, team captain as a senior. He started as varsity guard for Washington State college three straight years, named to the coast all-northern division quintet in 1933 and '34. As a high school coach, he made Bremerton the expected annual entry that his prep alma mater Walla Walla always had been. His team won the state championship in 1941 and placed second in 1942, '46 and '48. They placed among the top eight in the 16-team field almost every time they reached the tourney" - John K. Smith (The Bremerton Sun - 1962, Nov. 16).
He resided at 1018 Trenton Ave, Bremerton, with his Thelma Dane. They married in 1938 in Bremerton, three years after Ken's arrival in Bremerton. Thelma was "secretary to the superintendent" (John K. Smith (The Bremerton Sun - 1962, Nov. 16).
During his early years at Bremerton High, Coach Wills played in the Bremerton City Men's League for the National Bank of Commerce, a team made-up entirely of Bremerton Alumni, which won the championship in 1937 - Searchlight (1937, Feb. 08).
Inheriting a struggling basketball program, Coach Wills wrote the following for the 1937 Catlog:
"Basketball must improve at Bremerton if it is to hold its own in the new Cross-State League. In the past we have felt lucky to defeat Poulsbo in a series of games, but the scene is changed now. We meet the finest teams in the state in a round robin schedule, and we must increase our efficiency by a wide margin in order to keep out of the cellar.
This is a challenge to the younger boys in the school who are basketball players. It is up to you to pull Bremerton to the heights in the next few years. This year's team did a remarkable job in pulling Bremerton out of the basketball slump and now you must take up the task and do even better.
A good team means more than good players. It means that each player must have his finger to the pulse of the whole team offense; it means that each player must put forth a spirit of full cooperation to each other player; it means that each player must lose his own desires in the objectives of the team.
I think the Bremerton basketball players, and those who hope to be players will respong to this challenge."
- KEN WILLS (1937 Catlog)
HONORS
Bremerton High Basketbal Floor Naming (2009)
Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame (2009)
West Sound Athletes of the Century (1999)
Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (1976)
The Bremerton Sun Man of the Year (?)
STATE TOURNAMENT
WHS Boys Varsity (Semifinals - 1959)
WHS Boys Varsity (6th Place - 1958)
WHS Boys Varsity (Quarterfinals Consolation - 1957)
BHS Boys Varsity (6th Place - 1955)
BHS Boys Varsity (7th Place - 1953)
BHS Boys Varsity (3rd Place - 1952)
BHS Boys Varsity (First Round Consolation - 1950)
BHS Boys Varsity (First Round Consolation - 1949)
BHS Boys Varsity (2nd Place - 1948)
BHS Boys Varsity (6th Place - 1947)
BHS Boys Varsity (2nd Place - 1946)
BHS Boys Varsity (6th Place - 1944)
BHS Boys Varsity (2nd Place - 1942)
BHS Boys Varsity (CHAMPIONS - 1941)
BHS Boys Varsity (Quarterfinals Consolation - 1940)
DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
| PROTEGE | |
|
COACHING |
|
|
Boyd McCaslin (194?) |
Bellingham High Boys Varsity (1951-60), Arroyo High Boys Varsity (1960-83) |
|
COLLEGE |
|
|
Boyd McCaslin (194?) |
Dartmuth (1945-46), University of Michigan (1946-49) |
