{gallery}04_16_09/houle{/gallery} David Houle, one of three finalists for the Northwest College head women's basketball coaching job, discusses a drill with members of the Trappers' program during a public coaching demonstration on Tuesday. Tribune photo by Randal HorobikFirst of coaching finalists meets with NWC personnelThe first of three finalists for the vacant Northwest College women's basketball coaching position visited campus on Tuesday. David Houle, described as the “most winning high school coach in American history” took his turn holding a public coaching demonstration in Cabre Gym.“This is my favorite part of the process,” said NWC athletic director Jim Zeigler. “After all the formalities of the interview process, you get to see the coaches in their natural element. You can see how they interact with kids and how they teach the game of basketball.”

For Houle's 90-minute demonstration, the coaching candidate engaged in some light-hearted banter with the members of the Trapper women's program. After starting with a fast-break shooting drill, Houle broke the Trappers into groups for shooting competitions before wrapping up with a rebounding drill.

“I like to keep things fun for the players on my teams,” Houle said, alluding to the various intra-squad competitions that were sprinkled throughout the 90-minute demonstration. “I think people are more conducive to listening and learning if they're enjoying the things they're doing.”

Coaching clearly is something that Houle enjoys doing — and something he's been highly successful with throughout his career. He's won seven high school national titles — six in cross country and one in girls basketball — and was named the national high school coach of the year. In Utah, his high school team was once responsible for a run of eight state championships in an 11-year period. He attributes that coaching success to a relentless pursuit of knowledge during his early days.

“I didn't have any pride,” Houle said. “I'd walk up to another coach and say, ‘hey, I don't know anything, please teach me,' and they'd just start to talk.”

And Houle was more than happy to listen. The young coach wasn't exactly bashful with the people he approached either. College coaching legends like Jerry Tarkanian, Dean Smith and Jim Brandenburg are just some of the brains Houle has picked for knowledge over the years.

“For a while, I spent pretty much every dime I had traveling to speak to coaches and watch practices,” Houle said.

Houle also admits to being a pack-rat when it comes to that knowledge. The coach says he's saved every playbook and team manual he's ever laid hands on.

All those contacts and coaching pow-wows have led to a very diverse style to Houle's teams on offense. The coach admits to running a high number of set plays and a diverse number of offensive sets that he's borrowed from numerous programs.

On defense, however, Houle's inspiration will be much easier for basketball aficionados to spot.

“People ask me if I play man defense, and I'll tell them no,” said Houle. “So they'll say, oh, you play a zone, and I'll say not really. Then I have to describe to them that its this man-zone thing that changes based on the number of passes and where the ball is at. It's just an amoeba.”

As in the defense of the same name popularized by Tarkanian's UNLV teams during the Running Rebels' hey-days in the late 1980s.

Houle notes that it was the opportunity for a challenge that attracted him to the Northwest College position. After he and his wife paid a weekend visit to the Powell community, his excitement grew.

“We came up here and didn't tell anyone who we were,” said Houle. “We just wanted to look around and see the town and campus for ourselves and when we did we were like, whoa! This could be the place.

“I'm not saying I'll come in here and win a national championship,” said Houle. “But it's a challenge. Can I come here and build something? It's an opportunity.”