Holmquist Is a Coaching Giant at Biola

Dave Holmquist is a friend of John Wooden but is modest enough that he does not speak of his name going on a list with Wooden, Jim Boeheim, Denny Crum, Bob Knight, Jerry Tarkanian, John Thompson and Eddie Sutton.

But Holmquist, whose Biola men’s basketball team is in Tulsa, Okla., for a first-round game against Montana Tech at the NAIA tournament today, belongs on that list, having won 500 games in his career.

He did it fairly dramatically too, hitting the mark in the regular-season finale against Irvine Concordia.

“I didn’t think about it much before the season because we had lost some good players and we would have to win 27 games,” he said. “But we won more games than I anticipated. We were just trying to have a good season.”

Often, 500 victories is a testament to longevity as much as coaching skills. But Holmquist, who has headed the Biola men’s team for 18 of his 21 years as a coach, has achieved the milestone relatively quickly. At 47, he is the youngest coach to have reached that level.

Knight, who has won more than 700 games, previously was the youngest to reach 500, at 49. Jim Boeheim was next at 53.

Holmquist got his first victory in 1974, when he was 24, in his first of three seasons with Fresno Pacific. He stepped down from head-coaching and pursuing higher education after his Fresno stint, then accepted the job at Biola in 1978.

In 16 of his 21 seasons there, his teams won at least 20 games, and in three of them at least 30. His overall record is 502-179.

Holmquist has been coach of the year in NAIA District 3 four times and in the Golden State Athletic Conference last season. He has a PhD in physical education and four master’s degrees--in physical education, marriage and child counseling, European history and theology. He is working on a fifth master’s, in philosophy.

Biola is 29-6 and ranked 13th in the NAIA heading into its ninth NAIA tournament, where the Eagles are the 11th-seeded team. Biola has done reasonably well at the 32-team, eight-day tournament, having reached the NAIA championship game in 1982 before losing. The tournament started Tuesday at Oral Roberts and the championship game is March 23. To win it, a team must win five games in eight days.

“It’s been a season where I’ve reflected a little more than usual,” Holmquist said. “The 500 victories has caused me to look back at all the people, all the players, the friendships. . . . I’m very grateful for the opportunity to have been here. It’s a great place to be able to work.”

Holmquist, Biola’s athletic director the last nine years, never talked to his players about the 500 victories, although it became an obvious topic when Biola won the 498th with three games left in the regular season and the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament on the horizon.

“I’m just glad we won it before the regular season was over,” Holmquist said. “I’m sure the kids felt the pressure of trying to secure an at-large spot in the NAIA tournament,” Holmquist said. “My concern was that it would add pressure.

“This team has good chemistry. We’re not overpowering, we were bigger last year, but they find a way to win.”

Sounds a lot like their coach.

*

For all of Biola’s success this season, the Eagles have come up short against Azusa Pacific.

That’s because Azusa Pacific, 31-4, is having its best season in history and is the top-seeded team at the NAIA tournament. Azusa Pacific will play Huston-Tillotson (16-11) of Austin, Texas, at 11:30 a.m. today.

Azusa Pacific won the GSAC regular season title and the GSAC tournament by beating Biola, 62-59, in the championship game last Tuesday at Whittier College. Since both schools are already going to the NAIA tournament-- along with another GSAC school, The Master’s College--the game was for bragging rights only. Still, it was enough to pack Whittier’s gymnasium for a game in which Azusa Pacific had to hold off a late comeback by Biola.

Jeremy DeVries scored 17 points and T.J. Walker 13 for Azusa Pacific. Damien Johnson and Jack Hartman scored 18 points and had nine rebounds each for Biola.

Walker leads Azusa Pacific in scoring with a 15.5-point average, in assists with 5.9, in rebounds with 5.2, and in steals with 3.4.

College Division Notes

The Master’s College lost to Oklahoma City, 84-73, in a first-round NAIA tournament game at Tulsa, Okla., on Tuesday. . . . In Division II men’s basketball, Cal State Bakersfield was upset by Seattle Pacific, 62-60, in the semifinals of the West Regional at UC Davis last week. Bakersfield’s Marcus Moss and Coach Henry Clark were named the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s player and coach of the year. . . . Two other CCAA teams--Cal State Los Angeles and Grand Canyon--also lost at Davis. Los Angeles eliminated Grand Canyon, 58-53, in the first round but lost to Davis, 53-51, in the semifinal.

In women’s basketball, CCAA champion Cal Poly Pomona lost to UC Davis in the first round of the NCAA Division II Regional playoffs last Thursday in Seattle, 72-61. Cal State San Bernardino won its first-round game against Sonoma State, 54-50, but lost in the semifinals to Seattle Pacific, 79-72. Pomona’s Jessica Eggleston and Coach Paul Thomas were named the CCAA’s player and coach of the year. . . . The season-ending victory by the Grand Canyon women’s basketball team over Cal Poly Pomona broke a 24-game losing streak. It was the only victory of the season for Grand Canyon (1-24 overall, 1-9 in the CCAA).

In Division III men’s basketball, Pomona-Pitzer lost to Wisconsin Oshkosh in the first round of the West Sectional, 93-71. Pomona-Pitzer had earned an automatic birth by winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. . . . In Division III women’s basketball, Cal Lutheran lost to UC San Diego, 62-56, in the first round of the West Regional. Cal Lutheran had won the SCIAC title with two weeks left in the season.