A second time around

Bret Fleming has not coached at the high school level since 2000, but

the chance to take over the boys’ varsity basketball program at

Laguna Beach High was a chance too good to pass up.

Fleming is no stranger to the Laguna Beach program, either, as he

served as varsity head coach there for 10 years before stepping down

from his post in the fall of 2000.

Before taking on the varsity head coaching position from

1990-2000, Fleming served the previous four years as a varsity

assistant to Ed Bowen and coached the freshmen and junior varsity

teams.

He takes over the program from Mark Hill, who resigned his

position at the conclusion of the 2004-05 season.

Laguna is coming off back-to-back CIF playoff appearances.

“It feels great to be back,” said Fleming, whose team has been

playing nonstop during summer ball. “It was very much a situation

that when the job became available, I came forward and let [athletic

director] Ron Schwartz know that I wanted it very much.

“My life had been blessed with everything, but I felt that the one

thing missing was the opportunity to coach and help kids. It’s

something I wanted to do again.”

During his first go-round at Laguna Beach, Fleming posted 188

victories, the second-most in school history.

Two of his teams finished in second-place, two finished third,

three finished fourth and his 1999 squad won the Pacific Coast League

championship -- the last league title won by the boys’ varsity

basketball team in more than 20 years.

Over the past five years, Fleming, a physical education teacher at

the high school, has kept active by teaching individual skills in

basketball to small groups of players at the youth, high school,

collegiate and Amateur Athletic Union levels.

Since he officially started on the job on June 15 -- the same day

that Nicholas Ilagan began his post as varsity head coach of the

school’s girls’ basketball team -- Fleming’s team was able to get in

four practices before inheriting a summer playing schedule he dubbed

a “nightmare.”

Following those four practices, Laguna played eight straight

games.

The Breakers then kicked off a stretch of 11 straight games Tuesday with an overtime loss to Orange during play at the

Tuesday/Thursday Century League in Santa Ana.

Laguna also is competing each Monday and Wednesday at the

Saddleback College League, and on Thursday began play at the Newport

Harbor Tournament.

Fleming’s summer staff includes two of his former players in

Austin Butters and Russ Soobzokob.

Butters was a guard on Fleming’s final team in 1999-2000, and

Soobzokob played guard, graduated in 1994 and went on to play at

Irvine Valley College and Cal State San Bernardino.

In the fall, two other former players from the first Fleming era,

Jesse Obrand and Travis Hanour, will also help out with the program.

Obrand, a guard who last played for Fleming in 1999 and later at

UC Irvine, will take on an assistant coach position, Fleming said.

Hanour, who played on Fleming’s final team in 1999-2000 and went

on to the University of Arizona, will not be part of the coaching

staff, but will coach individual skills to local youth, Fleming

noted.

“It’s been nothing but nonstop for these kids this summer,”

Fleming said”I wish we weren’t playing so many games in a row, though

... I’m just glad that I have the opportunity to coach kids again. My

goal is to have a positive impact on these kids.”