A decade of excellence

2001-20010: Mike Meek leaves Southridge after five state titles

By Miles Vance

The Beaverton Valley Times, Jul 29, 2010

Miles Vance / Beaverton Valley Times

STILL TEACHING — Southridge coach Mike Meek was still teaching in his final high school game — his team’s 2010 Class 6A state championship victory over Jesuit.

The 1970s may have been known as “The Me Decade,” but in Oregon girls basketball, the period from 2001 to 2010 can only be known as “The Meek Decade.”

During that decade, Southridge High girls basketball coach Mike Meek — along with a talented, loyal group of assistants – took the Skyhawks girls basketball program to the very pinnacle of success, winning five big-school state championships in the last six years and taking over from Oregon City as the state’s preeminent program.

Now, Meek, 40, is ready for a new challenge. He found it this week when he signed on to take over as head coach for George Fox University’s successful women’s basketball program.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity,” Meek said. “They were interested and I was flattered they were at least looking at me.”

While Meek, who was announced as Bruins’ coach on Monday, has no prior college coaching experience, he put together one heck of a track record during his decade at Southridge.

After taking over a team that went 3-15 in 1999, Meek led Southridge into the state playoffs for the first time in 2003, then again and for six straight seasons beginning in 2005, a stretch that included five big-school state championships.

In the process, Southridge earned a perennial place in the USA Today and MaxPreps national rankings, with MaxPreps this spring recognizing Southridge as one of the top 10 high school programs in the nation.

And Meek was right there in the middle of it all. He earned a slew of coaching awards during his time at Southridge, including the 2005-06 MaxPreps National Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year and six statewide Coach of the Year awards.

Despite all that, Meek remains willing, even eager, to share credit for his success at Southridge.

“I feel like it all comes down to the players,” he said. “We’ve had unbelievable talent, and the players were willing to listen. The kids were really willing to sacrifice individual goals for the team success.”

“Unbelievable talent” is right too — during Meek’s decade in Beaverton, the Skyhawks have sent 19 on to play college basketball, including Pac-10 players Stacey Nichols (Oregon State), Aarika Hughes and Michelle Jenkins (USC), JJ Hones (Stanford) and Alex Earl (Arizona State).

1 | 2 Next Page >>

Facebook	Digg	Del.icio.us
Newsvine	Stumbleupon	Reddit