OREGON CITY Ore. (KPTV) – Clif Wegner is the long-tenured head coach of the Clackamas Community College basketball program, where he does it for the love of the game.
“I love working with these kids,” Wegner said. “I love how much a kid changes from when he comes in as an 18-year-old high school graduate to leaving as a 20-year-old young man and feeling like we’ve got him academically ready and athletically to go on and compete at a four-year school.”
Wegner is nearing his 50th year of coaching, teaching and mentoring in his home state of Oregon, spending the past 26 seasons leading the men’s basketball program at CCC.
“Our kids are elite athletes. Many of them are just a whisker away from D1 kind of abilities,” he said.
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The Cougars’ all-time wins leader celebrated his 72nd birthday this past week, sharing his big day with his daughter.
“She was born on my birthday,” Wegner said. “Best birthday present ever.”
The Oakridge native landed his first coaching gig back in 1976 at Willamina High with the boys and girls basketball programs after playing hoops and hardball at Western Oregon.
“My most important job is to help make better people. My second most important job is to make better basketball players.”
Wegner cut his teeth at Oregon City High during the 80′s and 90′s as an English teacher when the Three Rivers League was as good as it got in the Beaver State.
“I didn’t really have any aspirations of coaching college but as a high school coach in 1993 Measure 5 was a property tax limitation and when it kicked in, we had to cut so many teachers. We cut 70 of 300 teachers, five of my assistant coaches – so that’s how I got involved with college basketball,” he said.
Coach now has more than 550 victories in junior college at CCC and Mt. Hood, collecting Northwest Athletic Conference championship rings with his Cougs in 2007, 2009 and 2010. Now he’s a five-time NWAC South Region Coach of the Year.
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