Meet Alex Pribble

Catch the television news most any night and if it bleeds, it leads. The same with newspapers and media web sites. A strict diet of such would render most with the sense that this world is overrun with horror and that fear is the most common human denominator.

Yes, **it does happen. There's no soft-pedaling or denying it.

But so does good and the vast majority of earth's population are focused keeping this element foremost.

Count Bay Area native and current Eastern Washington University (EWU) Assistant Coach Alex Pribble among the latter practitioners.

You're probably wondering by now what do the variances in the human condition and behavior have to do with basketball?

Well, some join the coaching ranks with the foremost wish of becoming the next mega-dollar coach, with DickieV shouting out hosannas of admiration and there's nothing wrong with that. But how many of those positions exist?

Others treasure the relationship of a bound-together-like-family roster, being in a position to both display and instill certain values, enjoying having an less-talented five-as-one performing better than five stars working as individuals, and with synchronicity abetting the team.

While the Marin County born and bred Pribble certainly would enjoy a weighty wallet and national recognition, it's the so-called intangibles of basketball that resonate strongest with him.

Let's detail his playing and coaching hoops biography.

Pribble lauds Doug Donellan, the longtime Drake High coach, as his first mentor.

"I've had a passion for basketball for as long as I can remember," he explained. "But it was an honor to play for Coach Donnellan, and to become part of a program which has a great tradition. I cherished my role and took it very seriously."

"I was a late bloomer. I had a growth spurt between my sophomore and junior years and also between my junior and senior years." He finished at Drake standing 6-foot-4 and with Marin County Athletic League most valuable player honors in his final go-around.

Pribble then was accepted into the University of California and made Coach Ben Braun's basketball squad as a recruited walk-on. This was a dream come true for him as "I grew up watching Cal." He also recalls seeing Bear guard Shantay Legans play and, in one of those quirky coincidences, Legans is a fellow assistant at Eastern Washington.

"It was a fantastic experience. I was by no means the most athletic or the most talented" but by his junior year, Pribble earned a scholarship and started nine games for the Bears as a senior as well as being named a captain. He was twice named to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team as well as earning the Cal Hustle Award two times.

Intent on earning a master's degree, Pribble stayed on in Berkeley and also worked as a graduate assistant under Braun, assisting with individual workouts, scouting and compliance. "I am so grateful for the opportunity. It allowed me to get a feel for the coaching profession."

After college, he began his ascent into formal mentoring. Pribble started teaching and coaching boys basketball at Tamalpais High from 2008 to 2011. What is he especially proud of during that tenure? "It was all about building a program. My first year, 10 players showed up to the freshman tryouts. My last year, 60 players showed up." The program also enjoyed much more success on the court than in previous years.

Then Pribble went to work with a longtime friend.

"My first college coaching job was with Paul Trevor at San Francisco State."

The connection?

"We attended the same high school and the same summer basketball camp. In fact, he was my camp coach when he was in high school and I was in the third grade."

The Gators finished 9-19 in Pribble's first year, then 16-12 last season, including a sparkling 10-2 record at home.

Not long ago while scouting talent at a tournament held at City College of San Francisco, Pribble met EWU Head Coach Jim Hayford, who had an opening to fill on his Big Sky Conference staff. "He's a high character coach who had nine all-academic players on his team last year. I was drawn to that."

Hayford was impressed, as was Pribble, and an offer produced an acceptance. It was off to Cheney, Washington.

Now Pribble is part and parcel of a mini-United Nations.

"Among our players, we have three Australians, two Germans and a Serbian on the team. All our guys love each other, they're tight and hang out together," Pribble said. "It's a matter of being different in ways but being part of a whole."

With a philosophy Pribble credits to Paul Trevor, "what's foremost important is that our players, regardless of actions, never question whether we love them and care about them as a person. It's very clear our person-to-person relationship is never in jeopardy. The foundation of any program is the players. The key is getting high character and highly competitive ones."

It's a 'family' of the highest order up in Cheney. Relationships rule, guided by mutual respect and honor. Eastern Washington doesn't land blue-chippers unless the measurement tool is the tightness of the bond to one another.

Who wouldn't like being part of that?

May Alex Pribble have a long career influencing young men. He is doing it for all the right reasons.