David Koehler, Millennium Hall of Fame

As a 6-foot point guard, David Koehler’s assignment rarely changed

on the basketball court.

“It was hit the open jump shot, make your free throws and pass to Alex

(Black) and Jack (Tuz),” Koehler said, referring to his former Corona del

Mar High teammates.

Koehler, who performed similar tasks at Saddleback College with Kevin

McGee and the University of Washington with Detlef Schrempf, was the

sixth man as a CdM sophomore in 1977 -- Jack Errion’s first season as the

Sea Kings’ coach, when they captured the South Coast League and CIF

Southern Section 3-A championships.

A three-year varsity player who twice earned All-CIF, Koehler teamed

with Tuz, the Orange County Player of the Year in ‘77, Black, Paul Akin,

Steve Esposito and Mark Rains as the Sea Kings went 25-5 and beat Ramona

in overtime, 56-50, in the CIF 3-A title game at the LA Sports Arena,

igniting a 10-year reign at CdM in which the late Errion won six league

championships and four trips to the CIF finals, including two titles.

“There was a lot of tradition at Corona del Mar, and playing under

Jack, there were always high expectations,” Koehler said. “Jack was a

great guy and he loved to win, and that’s why it was really fun playing

for him.”

(For several years, CdM’s basketball alumni program has operated a

summer tournament and fund-raiser named after Errion.)

CdM battled one more year in the South Coast League and advanced to

the second round of the CIF 3-A playoffs in Koehler’s junior year, when

he led the team in scoring and assists and merited third-team All-CIF.

Then, as a senior, Koehler averaged 17.5 points per game, led the

squad in assists again and propelled the Sea Kings to a 21-4 record and

berth in the CIF 3-A quarterfinals, when they lost to Los Amigos and

county Player of the Year Clayton Oliver.

“Just playing basketball at Corona del Mar was great,” said Koehler, a

first-team All-CIF 3-A choice in 1979, and a two-time first-team

all-league selection.

Koehler, who played in the 1979 Orange County High School All-Star

basketball game, was part of Coach Bill Mulligan’s Mission Conference

championship team in 1980, when the Gauchos featured McGee, finished 36-1

and lost to Mark Eaton and Cypress in the state semifinals.

Eight players off that squad, including Koehler, eventually landed

Division I college scholarships. “(Mulligan) ran everybody in and out and

played a lot of guys. (Saddleback) was a fun stop,” said Koehler, whose

goal was always to play in the Pac-10 Conference.

Koehler realized his dream when Washington came calling. He redshirted

one year because of a shoulder injury, then played as a sophomore. As a

junior in 1983, Koehler started 15 of 18 conference games and was voted

the Huskies’ Most Improved Player. At one point, Koehler owned the

Pac-10’s best assist-to-turnover ratio.

In 1984, Koehler alternated with Alvin Vaughn, who’d been injured the

year before, at point guard, and Washington won the Pac-10 championship.

“In college, I wasn’t much of a scorer,” Koehler said. “I was more of

a playmaker who was supposed to get the ball to our big guys (6-foot-10

Schrempf, 6-10 Paul Fortier and 7-foot Christian Welp, a first-round pick

of the Philadelphia 76ers who never panned out in the NBA).”

That year, Washington reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament,

knocking off Duke in the second round, 73-70, before getting upset by

Dayton. “We knew we were going to play Georgetown (and Patrick Ewing) for

the right to play in the Final Four if we had won, but I guess we were

looking past Dayton,” he said.

Following his collegiate career, Koehler, a youth basketball star

growing up in Newport Beach, played briefly in Austria, then decided “it

was time to move on in life.”

From fifth to eighth grade in the Junior Olympic Nationals, Koehler

played on teams that won two gold medals, one silver and one bronze. As

an eighth grader, Koehler was chosen as part of a 10-man Junior Olympic

All-American team.

Koehler played other sports growing up, especially baseball, which he

loved, but always found himself in the gym.

Koehler, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

celebrating the millennium, lives in Coto de Caza with his wife, Kim, and

four children: Drew, 8, Shelby, 7, Brooke, 5, and Madison, 2. He works in

sales for a home furnishing company, covering Hawaii and Las Vegas. “It’s

a good territory, and I love what I do,” said Koehler, 38. “I feel very

blessed.”