Napa Valley honors women's basketball coach Paul DeBolt on milestone – 1,000th career game as head coach
By MARTY JAMES
martyjames.sports@gmail.com
NAPA - It was a special night for Paul DeBolt, with Napa Valley College Athletics honoring the Storm women's basketball coach on his 1,000th career game as a head coach last Wednesday (Jan. 25).
In a storied 33-year career that began during the 1986-87 season at Contra Costa College-San Pablo, DeBolt reached a rare milestone in the coaching ranks, becoming only the fourth head coach in California community college history to coach 1,000 games and the first one to do it in Northern California.
With four players scoring in double figures, Napa Valley won its Bay Valley Conference game, 85-57 over Contra Costa, securing its hold on third place in the league standings and presenting DeBolt with one of his sweetest victories.
Brooklyn Giles scored 17 points, Rose Jamison and Daralonie Sykes each scored 16 points, and Addison Alsbury scored 11 points to lead the Storm (15-7 overall, 6-3 Bay Valley), which was in front 32-16 in the first quarter.
Prior to the game, Jerry Dunlap, NVC's Associate Dean of Kinesiology, Health and Dance and the Storm's Athletic Director, addressed the crowd, saying, "Tonight, Napa Valley College and Contra Costa College would like to congratulate and celebrate coach Paul DeBolt on coaching his 1,000th career women's basketball game." DeBolt, who is in his third year at Napa Valley, ranks sixth for wins all-time in California community college women's basketball history. He was named as the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association State Coach of the Year during the 2000-2001 season. In addition, he is a three-time CCCWBCA Junior College Region 8 Coach of the Year and an eight-time BVC Coach of the Year.
Dunlap said: "Thank you, Coach, for your guidance and mentorship to the thousands of students, student athletes, coaches and staff. You have been a positive influence and made an impact on everyone that's had the honor of playing and working with you. We wish you and your family continued success and good health."
DeBolt's all-time record as a head coach is 589-411. As the head coach at Contra Costa for 30 years (1986-2016), he led one of the top programs in the state, with the Comets winning 11 Bay Valley Conference titles and making 19 postseason appearances. He has had four seasons with 30-plus victories, nine seasons with 25-plus wins, and 15 seasons with 20-plus victories. The Comets finished as the state runner-up at the California Community College Athletic Association state tournament in both 2001 and 2003.
DeBolt led Contra Costa to three state final four berths, four state elite eight berths, and seven state Sweet 16 berths. He has also coached six first-team WBCA Kodak or State Farm All-Americans, two state MVPs, 15 first-team CCCWBCA All-State players, 28 CCCWBCA All-State players, 12 BVC Most Valuable Players, and 69 All-BVC players during his career at Contra Costa.
He said coaching against Contra Costa, where he had so much success, made for a "full circle" evening, when so many friends, former students and colleagues turned out to support him.
"It's nice to be here at Napa and nice to have the players we have, the coaches, the support in the athletic department with Jerry (Dunlap), that has given me sort of a second coaching life," said DeBolt.
DeBolt stepped down as Contra Costa's coach in 2016.
He took over as NVC's coach in 2019.
"To be just the fourth coach in the history of community college women's basketball to get to 1,000 games, it's a milestone, I think, for me, because of all the support that I've had, personally, from my
family, from the people at Contra Costa, the people here at Napa, and all my coaches, and obviously, my players who are the center of everything. I really love this group of kids. They're really an incredible group. They play hard. It's just fun to coach them," said DeBolt, who is assisted by Angelita Hutton and Monica Lloyd.
In a very short time, he has turned NVC into one of the top teams in the Bay Valley. The Storm is tied at No. 15 in the latest CCCWBCA North Region Poll, announced on Jan. 25 by the California Community College Athletic Association in a report at www.cccaasports.org.
"To be able to go out there and show up for him, it felt really good, because we don't understand how much he does for our team. He does a lot behind the scenes for us. He's here late at night. He's here hours before we even have to be here for practice. He's always here taking care of us, making sure we're taken care of, on and off the court," said Maizy Armstrong-Brown, a sophomore guard.
"So, to be able to play for him tonight, it just meant a lot to go out there and do what I can for him and show appreciation for him tonight."
All 10 players scored for the Storm, which shot 40.0 percent from the field (32-of-80), 17.4 percent from 3-point distance (4-of-23), and 77.3 percent from the free-throw line (17-of-22).
Giles also had seven rebounds and two steals.
Jamison also had seven rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Sykes also had six rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Alsbury also had six rebounds and two steals.
The Storm was also helped out by Suraya Lloyd, with eight points and six rebounds; Armstrong-Brown, with six points and two steals; Amaree Bennett, with three rebounds and two points; Maira Montanez, with five points and five rebounds; Mirah Jackson, with two points; and Alliyah Fernandez, with two points and four rebounds.
NVC was ahead 52-30 at halftime.
Players celebrated DeBolt's milestone achievement, with confetti, in the team room.
"We definitely needed to make tonight special for him, because he makes every day special for us," said Armstrong-Brown. "We wanted to just go and show up for him, knowing it was his special night. We definitely went all out for him, knowing that he goes all out for us.
"It was definitely an emotional game for him. We knew he coached at Contra Costa. Coach Paul is not big about giving himself credit. He's a really humble guy."
DeBolt expressed his appreciation for all the support on his milestone night. He is also proud of his teams over all the years.
"It's not just me. It's everybody who's been with me through those years. We played really good competition all the way through. We battled. Proud of the career that we've all had together," he said.
He added that it's "very gratifying" to be at NVC, leading and guiding the program.
"I'm really happy to be here. I know enough to know that this is a really good place. I just want to be here as long as I can and do what I can do, to get us better every year, to get these kids in classes and get them transferred. So, those are the real gratifying things – that it's more than basketball."
As the gym emptied out, and after saying goodbye to friends late Wednesday night, DeBolt talked about the work that he and his staff put in, preparing for a season, preparing for games, and trying to reach the postseason.
"I enjoy the two-year level. The message in all this, for me, is keep grinding, keep preparing, work with these kids, to get them to a better place.
"We want to go to the playoffs this year and finish well, maybe win a playoff game, maybe have a home playoff game. You never know."
NVC has five games to go in the regular season.
"The team is surprisingly fresh. It's been a grind this year. We have played a lot of good teams. But their legs are fresh and they're surprisingly still going hard. I think we have some pretty good basketball ahead of us," he said.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.