Former Bruin Cage Coach Sam Willard Passes Away in Arizona

A native of Williston, N.D., Willard was an All-State guard before going on to Northwest Nazarene College.

Salem-News.com Sports

NEWBERG, Ore. - Sam Willard, who coached the George Fox University men’s basketball team to five post-season appearances in six seasons (1976-82), passed away on Friday, January 11th from complications during a surgery procedure in Phoenix, Ariz. He was 72.

Willard joined the George Fox staff as men’s basketball coach and athletic director in the summer of 1976 after seven years in the same duties at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington, replacing Lorin Miller.

His first team in 1976-77 went 20-9, the first 20-win season in Bruin history, and he went on to lead the Bruins to an 89-89 record, with four winning records in six years. The Bruins appeared in the NAIA District 2 Playoffs in ’77, ’78, ’80 and ’81, and went 1-1 in the National Christian College Athletic Association regional playoffs in ’82.

Seven NAIA All-District selections competed for Willard, including the Bruins’ first NAIA All-American, Paul Cozens, who was Third Team All-America in 1977 and Second Team All-America in 1978. Cozens, the No. 2 scorer in Bruin history (2,187 points) and all-time rebounds leader (1,147) was the first George Fox player to have his number retired, and was the first Bruin ever taken in the NBA draft, by the Portland Trailblazers in the ninth round in 1978.

A native of Williston, N.D., Willard was an All-State guard before going on to Northwest Nazarene College. As a guard on the basketball team, he helped the Crusaders to the NAIA national championship in 1957. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwest Nazarene in 1959, and later earned a master’s degree from Central Washington State College in 1973.

He began his coaching career at Middleton and Caldwell High Schools in Idaho, where his teams made the state tournament seven times in nine years, twice winning state championships. He was the Idaho prep Coach of the Year in 1966.

Known as a fiery competitor who loved teaching the game of basketball to young athletes, Willard was the assistant director and athletic director for a Youth Conservation camp in Moses Lake for five summers while at Big Bend. He coached summer basketball camps in Washington, Oregon, and California, ran his own Mt. Shasta Camp in northern California, and assisted with Portland Trailblazer coach Jack Ramsey’s summer camps on the George Fox campus. Following his retirement from college coaching after his stint at George Fox, he became a co-owner and director of Perry’s Basketball Camp in Vernonia, Ore., for many years.

Current George Fox director of athletics Craig Taylor played for Willard and remembers his old high school and junior college coach fondly, saying, "Coach Willard was without a doubt the single most influential person in my life. He was my high school basketball coach. When he left Caldwell High School to take the Big Bend job, he recruited me and I played my first two years of college ball for him before transferring to George Fox. I was his assistant coach for all his years at George Fox, and the program director for Perry's Basketball Camp for all the years he owned it. My son Casey's middle name is Samuel, named after Coach Willard. I can't express how much I will miss him."

A long-time resident of nearby Dundee, Ore., Willard and his wife Myrna retired to the Phoenix area four years ago, but made regular visits back to the area to visit their four children and numerous grandchildren.

Funeral services for family and relatives will be held this weekend in Phoenix. Plans are also being made for a memorial service some time in the next few weeks at Portland Church of the Nazarene, where the Willards were long-time members.

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