Shortly after Thomas Jefferson’s boys basketball team’s Feb. 12 loss to Yelm in the West Central District playoffs, head coach Kyle Templeton officially resigned from the position.
Templeton cited multiple reasons for his resignation, the most significant being the distance of his commute to and from his home in Snoqualmie and wanting to spend more time with his family.
“It took about 40 minutes door-to-door,” Templeton said. “But being the head guy, you have to get there early and stay late. It added at least an hour before and an hour after each practice, game or meeting. That time started to take a toll on me and my family. We have three young sons and it’s asking a lot for my poor wife to manage them on her own for 12-15 hours some days.”
The distance also made it difficult for Templeton’s family to attend games and support him and the Raiders.
This year’s outgoing senior class was another factor in Templeton’s resignation. With 12 of the 13 varsity players graduating, it will make for a better transition year for the next coach.
“I knew we had a chance to be really good, and I also had a really close relationship with this group,” Templeton said. “Every kid, with the exception of Kobee [Mendoza], had been in the program at least two years. Eight of them had been in the program since they were freshmen. It was a great group to go out with.”
He knew Alex Sommerfield since he began to attend his basketball camps in the fifth grade. He grew close to Darius Anderson and Kendell Harris’ families in the seventh and eighth grades. Bailey Burget and Zach Henry were both coached by him when they played baseball in seventh grade at Totem.
Those types of relationships are what Templeton looked to foster as he built Jefferson up with neighborhood kids. As an alum and former player for Jefferson, it was one of the most important aspects after he took the position.
“My number one goal from the day I got the job was to keep kids who were supposed to go to TJ at TJ,” he said. “In the past this didn’t happen. Talented players from our neighborhood always managed to find their way to other schools. We put an end to that in my tenure. I hope that trend continues.”
Prior to Templeton taking over during the 2010-11 season, Jefferson had just one 10-win season from 1985-2010. That season was Templeton’s senior year as a player at Jefferson in 1995.
During his tenure, the Jefferson basketball team amassed 70 wins, an average of 10 per season. They earned a district tournament berth in three of the last four seasons, their first such appearances since 1985. This year’s second-place finish in league play was the highest in over 30 years.
The team also had one state tournament appearance in 2013, their first since 1979. They were defeated by Curtis in the regional round, and the Vikings went on to win the state championship that season.
They have only made the state tournament three times in school history.
“Besides the on-court success, the fact that we graduated 100 percent of our players who played their senior year with us is the thing I take the most pride in,” Templeton said. ” With the district graduation rate being in the 70s or 80s, us being at 100 percent is a great achievement. The credit for this extends far beyond just me. Assistant coaches, teachers, staff members and administrators share in this in a big way.”
As he moves on, Templeton says that the hardest thing to give up is the relationship he’s had with the kids and staff at Jefferson. He said he was overwhelmed by the amount of messages, calls, tweets and emails he received after his announcement.
“I don’t do well with appreciation,” he said. “It makes me uncomfortable. This last week has been a range of emotions for me.”
Other things he will miss are fighting for equality for the basketball program and the school spirit at Jefferson.
“TJ is a special place,” he said. “The environment at that school is not the norm. Every team in the league loved playing at our gym because of the environment. Mike Lewis and his band are just sensational. What Coley Veitenhans does with leadership classes at TJ is amazing, and it permeates throughout the school.”
Templeton is currently unsure of what he will do next. He still hopes to be close to the game of basketball, particularly at the high school level.
He believes the relationships that can be developed at that level are what draws him in to it. He’s still close to many of the players from the past that he’s coached.
While he was an assistant, he coached current Decatur boys coaches David Choi, Rob Oliver and Andrew Kim, as well as current Decatur girls junior varsity coach Elon Langston. He maintains a friendship with </
