Doug White takes over as Giants women's basketball coach
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
Doug White -- the winningest girls basketball coach in Central Section history -- has taken over as College of the Sequoias' women's basketball coach.
White replaces Ray Alvarado, who stepped down in September after accepting the head coaching job at NCAA Division II Hawaii Pacific.
"It came as a bit of a surprise, but it seemed like the right thing to do to help out the program with Ray taking off," said the 71-year-old White, who assisted Alvarado for five seasons after going 464-241 with 10 section championships and 13 state tournament appearances in 23 years at Corcoran High.
The semester had already started and practices were underway when Alvarado accepted the position at the Honolulu-based university.
So Sequoias Athletics Director Brent Davis elevated White to head coach, with long-time assistants Isaac Castro and Tony Velasquez remaining in place to maintain program continuity.
"Doug brings experience," Davis said. "He hit the ground running when we had this transition. Doug has coached it, been around it and done it for a long time. He's great with young people. We're lucky to have him here."
White takes over a team that went 28-3 overall, 12-0 in the Central Valley Conference and made a second straight trip to the California Community College Athletic Association's Elite Eight tournament last season.
The Giants open the season at 3 p.m. Nov. 3 against Shasta during the first round of the Jocelyn Mancebo Classic at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton.
"It's a little daunting because of the success we've had the last few years," White said. "But I'm excited about it. The girls are working really hard. They haven't let down a bit. It's a great group of kids."
White said he plans to play a style of basketball similar to what the Giants operated under Alvarado, playing pressure defense, running the floor and shooting the 3-pointer. White does plan to add more set plays than Alvarado used, and wants his players to draw fouls and get to the free throw line more often.
"We're going to keep a lot of the general ideas," White said. "We're still going to play uptempo and play defense. I ran a lot more sets at Corcoran and we're going to run more sets. I want to get to the line a lot. It's just building on what we have done."
Sequoias re-emerged as a state power during Alvarado's 13 seasons as coach.
The Giants went 262-102 overall and 108-32 in conference play under Alvarado, making the state playoffs in 10 consecutive championship seasons.
Alvarado guided Sequoias to six conference titles and Elite Eight appearances in six of the past eight championship seasons.
"Ray did a phenomenal job," Davis said. "Not only did we have ultra competitive teams, and made the state championships and won conference titles and all that. But more importantly, he emphasized academics and behavior with his teams. They always did well in the classroom and always behaved themselves in the community. You couldn't ask for anything more."
Alvarado takes over a Hawaii Pacific team that went 14-14 overall last season and 12-8 in the PacWest Conference.
On his X (formerly Twitter) account, Alvarado thanked former Sequoias President Stan Carrizosa and Athletics Director Lamel Harris, current President/Superintendent Brent Calvin, Davis and more.
"It's been an amazing run at COS," Alvarado wrote on X. "The admin, faculty and student athletes over the years have been first class. ... To my former players: This is accomplished because of you and your belief in me. Thank you. To my assistants: I sincerely appreciate all you have given me over the years."
