Hoyt comes home

Rob Hoyt has taken Thomas Wolfe's tome "You Can't Go Home Again" and blown it to smithereens.

After playing high school basketball in Sonora, two years at Columbia College there, further degrees and then a dues-paying journey assisting at two community colleges, Hoyt has come full circle.

Not only has he returned, Hoyt's now the head men's basketball coach at Columbia College, the achievement of his near lifelong dream.

But all was not some meteoric rise on a pathway strewn with roses.

His calling has resulted in subsidizing his coaching fervor with various stints as:

* a martial arts studio daycare worker (try topping that!)

* being a movie surveyor

* working in a warehouse

* employment at a surf shop

* substitute teaching at juvenile hall (let that one sink in)

So why this burning desire to mentor collegiately?

"I grew up living next to the football coach at Sonora High and he sort of molded me in the athletic world," Hoyt recalled. That and "I always really loved basketball. I loved playing and being a part of the team. Since the sixth grade I wanted to coach and be the Columbia College coach."

It's not knowledge to many but Columbia is a cradle of sorts for basketball coaches. Recognizable names such as Pat Douglass (retired from UC Irvine), Bob Thomason (recently retired from Pacific), Jim Saia (head coach at Cal State San Marcos, formerly an assistant at UCLA, Cal and Fresno State)), Denny Aye (head coach Chabot College and elsewhere), and Andrew Vasher (head coach Hartnell College) have all fulfilled the role, with Hoyt as the ninth person to hold the job title.

Hoyt is happy and satisfied where he is -- "I don't have any aspiration to go higher." He's back with family, playing in a great gym, with a nearby lake and geese and other wildlife scattered across campus. Plus, he's fulfilled that tender age of six grade wish.

Prior to landing the position at Columbia, he spent four years at Cabrillo College as an assistant to the very successful Tony Marcopulos. The Seahawks enjoyed a 78-43 record during Hoyt's tenure despite being situated in a very sparse area for talent.

According to Hoyt, "Coach Marcopulos mentored me. It was a basketball coaching boot camp."

This tidbit epitomizes the glamour of his coaching arc: with the high cost of housing in Santa Cruz County, Hoyt rented out a basement of a nearby house.

Before that, it was assisting at Reedley College for longtime Tiger Coach Brian Fonseca. The pair racked up an ultra successful 46-16 slate in two years, the best combination of two Reedley seasons with Francona at the helm.

"I got real lucky because we turned out to be so successful," Hoyt said.

Hoyt lived in Fresno during this time so it was a daily roundtrip grind of 70 miles.

Although Hoyt won't say it, the evidence is striking that the programs he is associated with are very successful. Now as the old saying goes, it's time for him to move to that seat 18 inches over. 

Hoyt has a particular recruit in mind: "high character kids, no knuckleheads. They aren't worth it. At the end of the day, holding kids accountable and being a role model is best for a coach to do."

His advice to those aspiring to the collegiate coaching profession? "Determine what level you want to reach, and make a plan to achieve it. Then start taking the steps to get there, educationally and with who you decide to associate yourself with."

He also offered that becoming a team manager while you're in school can be helpful.

The Hoyt academic résumé:

* 2011 Master's Sports Science - U. S. Sports Academy

* 2008 B.A. Kinesiology - Fresno State University

* 2005 A.A. Columbia College