In his 11 years as a head boys basketball coach, first at Foothill and then at Folsom, Mike Wall is proud of these accomplishments:
• His teams have made the playoffs every year.
• His teams have never had a losing season, despite some notoriously poor starts.
• His teams have always had a better record in the second half of league than in the first half.
That included Folsom's 12-0 run through the Delta River League, the section's toughest, this season.
"I was really worried about the string being broken this year after we went undefeated in the first half," Wall said. "But my guys came through by winning close ones against Pleasant Grove and Sheldon in the second half."
Folsom's flawless run in league, 31-2 overall record and second consecutive Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship came as no surprise to those who have observed Wall through the years.
"I'm really impressed by what Mike has accomplished at Folsom," said Ponderosa coach Dave Millhollin. "What's nice is that he did it with a home-grown group, no transfers. His kids play hard, and they play the right way."
Wall played basketball and ran track at Lassen High School in Susanville.
The UC Davis graduate's first coaching assignment came at age 20 at Emerson Junior High in Davis.
By age 25, he was the head coach at Foothill, after Drew Hibbs left in 1994 to become the Sierra College men's coach. Wall endured a couple of lean years early.
"Is anybody really ready to be a varsity coach at age 25?" Hibbs said. "You don't really know. But through his knowledge and hard work he made himself ready."
Wall's 1996-'97 team won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship, despite some early adversity.
"We started the year 3-5 and then I kicked off our leading scorer and rebounder for some defiance issues," Wall said. "I remember telling the guys, 'We're going to be OK.' We ended up going 24-9 and made the NorCal semifinals."
Kevin Thomas, who later played for the Buffalo Bills, was the leader of a tenacious, defensive-minded squad that beat West of Tracy 62-53 for the section title, something that eluded Hibbs and Wall in their state title run (the Mustangs lost to Vacaville 61-60 in the section final but rebounded to take NorCal and state banners) in 1994.
"That was a special group of kids that stuck together," Wall said.
It also finally helped him emerge from the large shadow cast by Hibbs, who would later return to Foothill and win two section titles and another state championship.
"I finally started to get some respect," Wall said. "I think people started to say, 'Maybe this guy knows what he is doing.'"
Wall decided to leave Foothill to take the Folsom job when Ben Palafox stepped down after leading the Bulldogs to the D-II section title in 2000. Folsom had moved to a new, expansive campus in 1998.
"I liked the facilities, saw that it was a great community to raise a family and it was like where I grew up, in that it was a one-school town," said Wall, who teaches economics at the school.
He had two 20-win seasons at Folsom but there was criticism from some who thought the Bulldogs should have done better. But Wall said his decision to step away from high school coaching in 2002 had more to do with a lack of support for coaches by the then administration.
With a new administration and having coached a young group of Folsom-area players on the AAU circuit who were talented, dedicated an unselfish, Wall decided to return four years later.
Since then, the Bulldogs have gone 76-19 and emerged as a section and NorCal power.
Wall is quick to credit his players for his most recent run of succes.
"The spirit of togetherness by this group was truly amazing," Wall said. "The kids trusted each other and there was always someone ready to step up when needed.... When things get bad, there is a tendency for players to get down on each other. But not with these guys. They never stopped working together."
Wall says he has had a number of mentors through the years, including Hibbs, the late UC Davis coach Bob Hamilton, former Stanislaus State coach John Jones and current Sacramento State coach Brian Katz.
Bob Wall, Mike's dad, who coached several sports, including girls basketball at Lassen High School, also is available for some sage advice. The senior Wall now lives in Lincoln and attends most of Folsom's games.
"He shares his views of what he sees," Wall said. "Sometimes he offer some instructional tapes. But he's now more of a fan."
Wall isn't afraid to admit that he is a fan - of wife, Stacey. They have two sons, Jared, 11, and Cameron, 7, who one day may wear the Folsom High colors.
He says she has put up with a lot so he can pursue his other true love. That included supporting him while he was a young and poorly compensated assistant coach at Stanislaus State in the early 1990s, when he was thinking college coaching might be the way to go.
"She deserves some props," Wall said. "During the whole Turlock thing, she was the one supporting us financially and getting us through the lean years.
"She's put in an amazing amount of time working, taking care of the home and raising the kids."
