It's no small thing to coach a team. Especially if the previous coach was the legendary Dan Leman.
During his tenure as coach of the Ninilchik Wolverines girls basketball team, Leman led the team to a record of 372-37. He took the Wolverines to 13 wins in the Peninsula Conference, to state 17 years and coached the Wolverines in eight Class 2A state championships. Leman was named small-schools coach of the year seven times. In nine years, he coached players of the year.
In December, when health concerns caused Leman to turn in his whistle, more than one team player shed tears of disappointment. Then they looked around, weighed their options, evaluated their resources and invited Rod Van Saun to become the team's new coach.
"With the winning tradition that our school has, that's an absolutely critical position," said Ninilchik School Principal Terry Martin. "And following Dan Leman with a 92 percent winning record ... we're asking the impossible."
The immensity of the task is clear to Van Saun.
"It's a big thing to take on," he said. "Watching (Leman) coach and watching his girls play all those years has been a huge part of my life. I was a huge fan."
For more than 25 years, Van Saun played basketball at high school, intramural, city league and college levels. A Ninilchik resident since 1993, he owns and operates Van Saun Charters and is president of Deep Creek Charter Boat Association. He is the basketball coach for Ninilchik's elementary athletes and for the past four years has been assistant coach of the high school boys' varsity team.
Over the years, Van Saun had plenty of opportunities to observe Leman's style, his relationship with the team, his ability to make half-time adjustments. Van Saun watched Leman pit Ninilchik's 2A girls against 3- and 4A teams and saw the team come out the victor. He eyed Leman's commitment to the game's fundamentals, his sensitivity to the game's nuances.
"But I never looked at (Leman's) program and hoped or thought that I'd be the one to replace him," Van Saun said. "It's hard to watch someone you look up to so much and think you'll be the guy that fills his shoes."
However, there he is, with assistant coach Charlie Johnson at his side, a whistle in his mouth, plays in his head and a team of eight girls -- two freshmen, three juniors and three seniors -- listening to his instructions.
"To the girls' credit, they've done an excellent job transitioning for me," he said. "I know it's hard for them because they all grew up dreaming of playing for Dan, but they also recognize that Dan needed to retire and they've done an excellent job working with me to continue to bring the program along."
Team co-captains Grace Ehlers, a senior, and Lindsey Rohr, a junior, acknowledge Van Saun has a different style than Leman, but said the team recognizes the new coach's commitment to the team.
"He puts his heart into it," Ehlers said. "We all do."
"He's really good at picking out our individual skills and making plays around them," Rohr said. "He'll watch game tapes over and over again and get our plays down right. Some of the plays we run now are from NBA teams he watched. He's really trying to help us."
Van Saun also is learning the difference between coaching Ninilchik's boys and girls.
"We braid our hair and paint our nails. He's like, 'My god, you girls take longer to get ready. Why does it take so long?' He just shakes his head," Ehlers said, laughing. "I'm sure it's interesting for him."
The coach and his team will have a chance to sharpen their skills today through Saturday with the Ninilchik Invitational Tournament. Saturday, the girls and boys teams take on 2008 2A champs, Yakutat.
With a 4-1 record so far this season -- the team's only loss has been to Seldovia -- the Wolverines face the regional tournament March 4-7 at Lumen Christi in Anchorage. The state 2A tournament follows at Anchorage's Sullivan Arena March 16-19.
"We really all loved Dan. He taught us everything we know," Rohr said. Of playing for Van Saun, she added, "At first it was hard, but it's getting easier now. He's doing a good job."
And Van Saun's game plan?
"I'm going to put my heart and soul into it. So are the girls," he said. "And we'll see where we go."
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.