A talented teacher, athlete and coach, Tim Coles has been playing and coaching basketball for most of his life. He graduated from Post Falls High School, where he excelled in football, basketball, and track & field. He set many records, including the state A-2 single game scoring record at forty-two points and most field goals in a single game at seventeen. He also set state records in track & field, including the long jump at 22’ 8.5”. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of Idaho on a full-ride football scholarship. As a wide receiver, he held the record for the longest touchdown reception in UI history (82 yards vs Boise State) and at the time of his graduation was second on the list of all-time receivers.
Tim graduated from UI in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. He spent the next four years teaching and coaching at three small high schools in Idaho (Elk River, Nezperce, and Kootenai) before finding his niche at Garfield-Palouse High School, nestled in the rolling wheat fields of the Washington Palouse. There, he and his wife of thirty-six years, Tina, raised their two daughters, Tiffany and Katie, and their son, Logan. Their granddaughter, Keely, now attends school in Garfield, as well.
Although it sounds impossible – as Tim was a four-year letterman playing football at UI – basketball was always his favorite sport. In twenty-four years of coaching basketball at Gar-Pal, Tim established a highly successful boys’ basketball program, achieving an overall record of 464 W and 165 L. His teams have been Whitman County Tournament Champions thirteen times and Southeast “B” District Tournament Champions seven times. They have competed in fourteen State “B” Tournaments, earning medals twelve times and winning the championship in 1990, 2000, and 2001. While coaching at Gar-Pal, Tim has been honored as Whitman County Coach of the Year nine times, was nominated for State “B” Coach of the Year several times, was named a finalist in 1990, and was selected State “B” Coach of the Year in 2000. Tim’s 1990 team, with a record of 27-0, was named Inland Empire Team of the Year.
Tim is well known for his knowledge and teaching of fundamental basketball skills and for his intense, passionate, emotional coaching style. Opposing coaches express respect for his ability to communicate a team vision and convince players of their personal worth and important role, ultimately bringing out the very best in every athlete he coaches. The general consensus among opposing coaches is that Tim’s teams sometimes win games against superior teams and finish higher than they were expected to because they have sound fundamental skills, are disciplined and unafraid to compete, and play with tremendous heart.
In addition to his success as a coach, Tim is a popular teacher of Social Studies, Health, and P.E. and a respected Athletic Director. He has served as the Representative from District Nine to the WIAA Rep Assembly since 2006 and was named Whitman County Athletic Director of the Year and District Nine Athletic Director of the Year in 2008.
In his spare time, Tim DJ’s dances and wedding receptions all over the Pacific Northwest, as he has since 1977. He considers it a tremendous compliment that most of his former players and many former athletes from opposing teams ask him to DJ their wedding receptions.
Although he earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Eastern Washington University in 2003 and gained administrator’s credentials the same year, Tim never seriously considered giving up coaching basketball. He says he enjoys the challenge of matching wits with an opposing coach; however, the games are not usually the fun part of coaching. He says the best part about coaching basketball is the rewarding experience of teaching the players in practice and then watching them succeed in games. He says he loves his kids as if they were his own flesh and blood; his heart breaks for them when they lose a big game and he’s over-the-top proud of them when they achieve their personal and team goals. Perhaps this is why his teams are so successful. After twenty-four years of touching the lives of so many student-athletes, his induction into the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame is a well-deserved honor.
