Jack Cleveland grew up in the Seattle area, attended college at Highline Community College, where he played basketball, served in the
U.S. Army, graduated from Seattle University and later received his master’s degree from Eastern Washington University in Cheney. His first coaching job was at Sequim High School where he was the assistant to Wayne Hohman, 1993 Hall of Fame Inductee. There he developed his passion for coaching basketball
He was a head basketball coach for twenty five years, coaching boys at Endicott, Davenport, Medical Lake, University, Highland and girls at East Valley of Yakima compiling a record of 453 wins and 174 losses. Most recently, he won back-to-back state championships with the East Valley girls. Thirteen of his teams qualified for the state tournament and his teams won 11 league championships. He was named by the Washington State Coaches Association as “A” Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1991, as well as eleven league Coach of the Year honors.
Jack’s love for his family allowed him to step away from coaching for six years to watch his son, Brad play basketball. He returned to coaching in 1998 to coach the East Valley, of Yakima, girls basketball program.
Jack was unique in that he made the transition from coaching boys to coaching girls the last six years of his career. He felt that the “game” was the “game” regardless of whether you were coaching boys or girls. He always wanted his players to learn lessons that they would carry throughout life. He was constantly planning and working to make his teams better. Jack passed away June 26, 2003 of a heart attack at the age of 56. He left his wife of 36 years, Sue and two sons, Jeff and Brad.
Jack may have been well known for his outstanding coaching career, but behind the roar of the fans, intensity of competition and laser focus as a coach, there was a deep, well-rounded multifaceted person. He would want to be remembered for his passion for life, his drive to live life to its fullest. He never stopped learning and growing and always took the time to reflect on the things that gave him joy. One of his favorite sayings was, “When death comes eventually, let it find you doing exactly what you want to do.” He would be honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
