Coach Ron Billings, a graduate of Pacific Lutheran College, was a threesport star at the Parkland, Washington school, lettering in football, basketball and baseball. He won Little All-America honors in football at PLU but turned to basketball when he began coaching at a junior high in Tacoma.
He assumed the head coaching reins at Lincoln high school (Tacoma) in 1965 and remained in that position for 16 years, winning 11 (eleven) league championships with a record of 272 victories and 64 defeats. Ron’s 1975 Lincoln team won the state high school AAA Championship and his teams placed second in the state tournaments of 1968 and 1976. In one stretch Ron’s Lincoln team won 38 consecutive games and were ranked in the top four of the state on seven occasions. Ron was named Washington State Coach of the Year in 1974-75 and 1975-76 and was selected to coach the United States team in the 1976 All-America game in New York.
From Lincoln Ron went to Tacoma Community College where his teams won as unprecedented three Pacific Northwest Championships in his first seven years. He was honored in 1981-82 and 1985-86 as the Northwest Community College Coach of the Year.
During Ron’s tenure, his wife Donna was very supportive of his efforts and his success. They have four children – Danna, Wendy, Ron and Stacy and eight grandchildren.
