R-C Sports Notebook: Thacker should make a good fit with Tiger basketball

You just got the feeling early on that the man hired to take the helm of the Douglas boys' basketball program was going to come from out of the district.

When Douglas High School announced last week that Corey Thacker, formerly of Spring Creek, got the job, it was met with welcome surprise.

On one hand, few would've surveyed the landscape of active coaches in Northern Nevada and pointed directly at Thacker's name. But on the other, it's a move that makes perfect sense.

He knows the basketball landscape here, having been raised in Nevada and played for Elko High School. He coached at Spring Creek for six full years after a five-year college career in Idaho. He's experienced success everywhere he's been.

Spring Creek was a three-time regional qualifier over the last three seasons, making it to the 3A state tournament two years ago.

It seemed there was room for the program to grow there, which is perhaps why few would've pinned him to make the cross-state move.

But from Thacker's point of view, Douglas offered the perfect mix of what he hoped for as a coach " the small town atmosphere coupled with a successful Northern 4A program.

From Douglas' standpoint, Thacker makes an easy fit. He is young with a young family, meaning that he hopes to make this a long-term commitment.

The program is at the point where it needs continuity to build on the strong foundation that has already been laid by the last two coaches, Keith Lewis and Rob Streeter.

He's a teacher, which is something high school officials were adamant about getting in filling the coaching vacancy.

On the basketball side, he is defensive-minded and his hard-working teams have distinguished themselves for hustle and effort.

Simply put, he isn't too much of a departure from Streeter, who is headed for Clovis North in California.

There were many qualified, experienced and talented names from within the district that had been mentioned during the search, which took just three weeks and two days.

Some parents and players from the area even started a grassroots campaign for the favored candidate, but in the long run, the new coach almost had to come from the outside.

Thacker is a guy with a resume you'd hope for from a local, but can come in without any previous connections and establish a program from scratch.

Last year's regional runner-up squad graduated six seniors, including three starters and two of the first three off the bench.

That leaves Thacker with two returning starters and five key reserves.

Streeter was already looking at amping up Douglas' offensive attack, and Thacker said outright he'll be looking to push the ball a bit more.

He's taking the reigns at a time when he can be the architect of a new system if he wants, with hyper-successful incoming junior varsity and freshman players ready to bounce up to the varsity level and a strong offseason AAU program already established.

It should make for an exciting brand of basketball here for many winters to come.

There's still not much to write about in terms of my opinions on local sports here in the summer.

So instead, I'll just throw a baseball riddle out there that I got from my Baseball Brain Teasers book by Dom Forker.

Here it is:

A batter hits a line drive that bounces out of the glove of the left fielder and flies over the fence. The umpire rules the hit a double. Is he right?

See below for the answer.

This is also the time of year where our pool of potential athletes of the week thins out drastically.

Douglas junior Jordan Hadlock's clutch three-run home run in the Kelley Baseball Classic in Reno last week got him a nod this week and Douglas senior Alyce Kugler taking home her second consecutive state title in girls' rodeo cutting got the other nod.

The umpire is wrong and should be overruled. When an umpire biffs on a book rule, another may reverse the call.

In this case, the hit should be declared a home run.

My grandma gave me this book, published by Sterling Publishing Co., in New York in 1986, a couple years ago for Christmas. Perhaps we'll try another riddle next week.