PORT ANGELES — Peninsula College head men’s basketball coach Lance Von Vogt has resigned to take the same position at William Jessup University, an NAIA Division II school in Rocklin, Calif., the college announced Tuesday.
“It’s always a difficult decision when you are so ingrained and embedded in the community,” Von Vogt told the Peninsula Daily News.
“Peninsula College is a wonderful school, and Port Angeles is a wonderful community.
“It’s bittersweet for my family and I. We’re excited about the new opportunity, but we’re leaving part of our hearts in Port Angeles.”
Von Vogt leaves the Pirates after three successful seasons, which included a NWAACC championship during his first season at Peninsula in 2010-11.
Overall, he accumulated a 65-25 win-loss record (34-12 in the NWAACC North Division) and guided the Pirates to the NWAACC tournament in each of his three seasons.
In addition to coaching, Von Vogt served as the athletic development coordinator for the Pirate Athletic Association.
“We are, of course, very sad to see Lance go,” Peninsula athletics director Rick Ross said.
“He is an outstanding basketball coach and an outstanding human being.
“He made an immediate impact on basketball in the NWAACC and won us a championship, the first in basketball since 1970. He’ll always have that place in our history.”
During his three seasons with the Pirates, Von Vogt coached one NWAACC most valuable player, four All-NWAACC players, six All-North Division players and five All-Academic players.
Ross said he wasn’t blindsided by Von Vogt’s departure.
“Not really. Lance is a guy with aspirations for the four-year level, and we knew that when we hired him,” Ross said.
“I knew that when an opportunity came up that was a good fit, that he would give it serious consideration.”
Von Vogt said he has turned down offers from other schools since joining the Pirates, because none of those schools offered a better situation for his family than did Peninsula College.
William Jessup, though, was too good for him to pass up, especially since the Warriors will be joining the Golden State Athletic Conference, which Von Vogt said is one of the best NAIA conferences in the West, in 2014.
William Jessup currently plays in the California Pacific Conference.
Von Vogt also was attracted by the spiritual element William Jessup offers.
“It is a Christ-centered environment and university; that was important to me,” he said.
“It has been in my heart to serve as the head coach at a Christ-centered school.”
Peninsula College has already begun a national search for Von Vogt’s successor.
“We have a strong core of returners and an outstanding recruiting class, and we fully expect to go out and bring in a coach who will continue what Mark Amaral, Pat Foley, Peter Stewart and Lance Von Vogt started here at Peninsula — and that is a winning tradition,” Ross said.
“This program was built on the shoulders of outstanding coaches, and we are committed to finding the next great Pirate leader.”
Ross said that the college will post the job opening on the NCAA and NWAACC websites, as well as various other services, and has already started contacting coaches throughout the West Coast for advice on potential candidates.
Peninsula anticipates having at least five players returning form last year’s 18-12 squad that finished fourth in the NWAACC North Division, including starting point guard TreShawn King-Dunbar, leading scorer Xavier Bazile and Aaron Clark.
Also coming back are Domach Domach and T.J. McKinney, who redshirted last season.
Von Vogt added five recruits before his departure: Dustin Watts (Renton), Noah Everly (Novato, Calif.), Jal Deng (Anchorage, Alaska), Caleb Dozier (Tigard, Ore.), Davasayia Hagger (Beaverton, Ore.).
A pair of walk-ons are also expected to be with the team next season.
Ross said that he expects all will be with the team next year, but admitted that players usually choose to attend a school because of the coach.
“We hope they’ll give us a chance and meet the new coach before making a decision,” Ross said.
Von Vogt spoke to each returning player and recruit individually and informed them of his decision to leave Peninsula.
“I encouraged all of them to hold off on making a decision until the emotion wears off,” Von Vogt said.
“What I told them is pretty simple: The program is bigger than Lance Von Vogt.
“The program will not go downhill. The new coach will continue what we built.”
Ross said he hopes to have a new coach hired within three to four weeks.
“We want to hire a new coach as quickly as possible, but we want to be a thorough as we can,” he said.
Jack Huls, vice president of student services at Peninsula College, will chair the hiring committee, and Ross will direct the details of the search.
Because Peninsula College doesn’t have a large high-school recruiting base in the area, Ross said it is “critical” the new coach is able to recruit nationwide as Von Vogt did throughout his tenure.
There should be plenty of interest in the job.
Von Vogt said that by the time his youth camp at the Peninsula College gym ended Tuesday afternoon, he had 41 messages on his phone, and 38 of those were from other coaches — some congratulating him, and others expressing interest in the newly opened Peninsula head coaching position.
Von Vogt plans to leave Port Angeles for Rocklin in late July or early August.
William Jessup is coming off a California Pacific Conference regular season championship, which came after a 1-13 start.
In December, assistant coach Jeff Bussell took over on an interim basis for longtime head coach Aaron Muhic, and the Warriors finished the season with an 11-17 record.
Muhic resigned his post in April.
Von Vogt expects his new team will pick up where it finished 2012-13.
“We have a good group coming back,” he said.
“I told the guys, we’re not going to have a transitional year. We’re going to remain competitive.”
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Sports reporter Lee Horton can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5152 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
