Valley Star

Issue date: 2/23/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Greg Burmann MASTER AND COMMANDER - Coach Glen Hefferman in his first year with the Monarchs has given them new hope. Greg Burmann / Valley Star [Click to enlarge]

Valley College head basketball coach Glen Hefferman is pacing. It's five minutes before the Monarchs' tip-off against the Bakersfield Renegades, and he is walking up and down the sidelines, eyes fixed on his players as they warm up.

After a 77-57 blowout of the Renegades, Hefferman is grinning from ear to ear as one of his idols approaches.

"Great game, Red!" said retired Pasadena College coach George Terzian. "Your team is one of the most improved teams I've seen all year."

The Monarchs started the season 3-11 and now have a 9-3 record in conference and 14-14 record overall.

"I don't know why everyone calls me 'Red,'" Hefferman said. "But, I think it's because of my hair. When I was young, I used to have a whole bunch of red hair. And now, I only have a little bit of blond hair left."

Don't let Hefferman's playful demeanor fool you. This fiery coach is a strict disciplinarian who expects nothing short of success. He kicked Mike Martin, last year's leading scorer, off the team for discipline problems.

"It was difficult to let him go," Hefferman said. "He didn't listen and he thought he was bigger than the team."

Growing up in Chicago, Hefferman graduated from Von Steuben High School, where he always dreamed of playing professional basketball.

"I played college ball, but after my sophomore year, I realized that I wasn't good enough to play at the professional level," Hefferman said. "I started to watch games as a coach."

The Valley coach got his break as a senior in college when he took over the basketball program at Roosevelt High School when the full-time coach took a semester off. Hefferman more than doubled the team's wins from the previous year and finished the season with a 22-4 record.

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