697 down, three wins to go…
Spencer Gleason
– Sports Editor –
Whoever has the highest score at the end of the game wins. The teams with the most wins at the end of the season go to the playoffs. Wins accumulate over seasons. Seasons accumulate over years. Years accumulate into a career. Numbers are the name of the game.
For STLCC-Meramec Magic basketball coach Randy Albrecht, his next three wins will give him a milestone—career win number 700. While in his 37 seasons of coaching basketball, Albrecht has coached 1,166 games. With 1,087 of those games coached at Meramec and 79 coached at St. Louis University in the mid ‘70s. Albrecht considers himself lucky being able to spend time doing what he loves.
“I feel really fortunate I got to do what I set out to do in life. That was to be a basketball coach,” Albrecht said. “It’s been one of those things not everybody gets to do what they wanted to do, and basketball has been a big part of my life since I was young. I was a player and it stayed part of my life in coaching. It’s a chance to work with young people. Especially the older you get, it helps you stay younger staying around young people.”
Albrecht began his college coaching career in 1974 when he became the head coach for the St. Louis University (SLU) Billikens. The then darker-haired Albrecht had been at SLU for 10 years as a player, freshman coach and assistant coach for the Billikens.
Albrecht’s first season at the helm for the Billikens finished with a under .500, with a record of 12-14. After three seasons at SLU, Albrecht had compiled a record of 32-47 and a winning percentage of .405.
“It was just a tough situation,” Albrecht said. “SLU wasn’t sure where they wanted to play. We played some games at the Arena and some at the Kiel [Center]. We were in the Missouri Valley Conference. We left the Missouri Valley Conference and went to play in the Conference USA. We were in flux in terms of a program of where we, SLU, wanted to go at the time. But I was a young coach and I made multiple mistakes myself.”
While coaching at the Division I level, Albrecht soaked up knowledge like a sponge, picking up tidbits of information of what four-year colleges looked for when recruiting basketball players.
“The kids who are at community college, a lot of them want to move on and play college basketball at the four-year school level,” Albrecht said. “We have the
knowledge to let them know this is what players at the next level are capable of doing. If they want to play at that level, there are certain things those schools would expect them to accomplish.”
Since receiving the men’s basketball head coaching position in 1977, Albrecht, now in his 34th season at Meramec, has coached nearly 400 student athletes. The two year school has constantly given Albrecht a new rotation of players.
“The early years were tough here,” said Albrecht. “We didn’t have any scholarships. It was really tough recruiting. All the other schools that were coming into St. Louis and recruiting had scholarships and they weren’t leaving us a lot of talent around to play with.”
But Albrecht has found other ways to recruit his players. He shows his prospective student athletes how much they mean to him and to his program. Albrecht is able to put the right pieces of the puzzle together.
“I had a lot of other choices for schools to go to,” said Ryun Davis, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound freshman center from McCluer North High School. “But I wanted to stay in St. Louis and coach Albrecht showed me the most attention.”
For the first three games of the season, Davis has opened the year averaging 14.6 points per game.
Albrecht’s enjoyment of the game of basketball comes from the idea that everybody on the team gets involved. Everybody touches the ball. Anybody can shoot. Anybody can score.
“There are certain basketball principles or fundamentals that you believe in that you teach, whether you’re teaching fourth or fifth grade or higher,” Albrecht said. “You want to teach basketball the right way, the better way. There are a lot of different ways to go about this in coaching and teaching.”
Albrecht’s reputation precedes him. Student athletes do their homework when they look at prospective schools to play basketball.
“It’s a good experience knowing that you have a veteran coach that is well respected,” said sophomore guard Dietrick Sooter. “You know people are going to be there to watch you play just because of him. He knows what he’s talking about. He wins.”
Following last season, Sooter was named to the All-Region XVI and All-Conference teams. His season, thus far, has picked up where he left off, scoring 44 points.
On Dec. 12, Meramec will host the Junior College Shootout. Four basketball games will take place, with the Magic leading off the day at 1 p.m. During halftime of the second game at 3 p.m., Meramec will put on a ceremony honoring Albrecht and his achievements.
“The way that he has conducted himself and his programs over the years brings nothing but pride to the institution and to our community,” said Bob Bottger, manager of physical education and athletics at Meramec. “He is well recognized regionally as well as nationally.”
Over the course of three decades stepping foot on the basketball court, Albrecht has a career winning percentage of .598. His coach of the year award total surpasses 20 and he holds a spot in three halls of fame. Career win number 700 will be another piece to his mantle.
“It just means that I’ve been here a long time and I have a lot of losses too,” Albrecht said. “I’m proud of the consistency our program has had. Ever since the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) went to divisions in 1985, and we went Division II, we’ve never had a losing season. I think being consistent in whatever your profession is is a mark of something that you take pride in.”
