The Bond that holds the team together

Kevin Bond grew up in a basketball family. His father played high school ball on the Oregon Coast. His older brother was a Gonzaga Prep athlete, with which he followed that to a four-year hoops stint overseas in Germany, where their mother was born and raised.

So the younger Bond followed in his family’s footsteps by playing high school hoops at Gonzaga Prep, just two years his brother’s junior. A key widget to his team’s success, but never a starter at the varsity level, he left his career to end in the Prep gymnasium.

A brief stint as a full-time student at Eastern Washington University following high school in 2002 and some part-time classes at Spokane Falls Community College led to pursuing work in management for the Shilo Inn hotel chain, leaving Bond in limbo as to where his life was going.

“I was kind of stuck in Moses Lake, a pretty small town,” Bond said of where his work travels left him. “I didn’t really know anybody there, I just got shipped over there for job purposes and a lot of my employees were getting back to going to school at Big Bend Community College over there. I was just sitting there, 23 at the time, no degree, just a lot of work experience.”

A light went on in his head; that and a “nice swift kick in the butt” from his brother, Chris.

“I wanted to get back into school and play basketball,” Bond said. “I’d been in city leagues and stuff like that, just to stay active. But as far as wanting to come back to play, that [my brother] was a big determining factor. My brother was pushing me, saying, ‘Now is the time to do it.’”

So he moved back to Spokane at his brother’s suggestion. Then he started playing pickup games throughout the community, especially at Saint Aloysius (or Saint Al’s as most of Spokane calls it), which is where he got his foot in the Sasquatch door.

“One of the guys I played with knew the coach and he put in a call for me,” Bond said. “I started coming to the open gyms here and that just got the ball rolling.”

The phone rang in first-year CCS Head Coach Clint Hull’s office, with the Saint Al’s scout touting a 6-foot-5-inch post with gritty skills that could pique his interest.

“He said ‘Hey, we got a guy that we’re working out with that fits your style of play. He is tough-nosed, diving for loose balls …,’” Hull said. “Doing all the little things that he’s heard we do here at Spokane. It went from there.”

Now he has gone from second-stringer in his Prep days to someone who will battle for minutes playing in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges.

“I wasn’t even a starter on the varsity team,” Bond said. “I didn’t win any awards or anything like that … I played all four years, just making the team and I just love to play the game.”

That love rings true even on the CCS practice floor, as Bond may not be the fastest or most skilled player on the court, but he has shown to be a vocal leader nonetheless.

“The biggest things he brings [to the team] are his attitude and his effort,” Hull said of his “freshman” with life experience. “The fact that he understands this great opportunity to come back and play basketball, the whole nature around it is great.

“He is that energy guy, and he never lets anything get him down, getting everyone else on the team involved.”

While his exact role on the team is yet to be determined, Bond seems just happy being there.

“A lot of guys here think it’s more or less a job [being on the team], I just give them a little reminder when they complain about having to go to practice all the time, that this is a good thing and it is a privilege to be here,” Bond said.

With a majority of the players on the Sasquatch roster one or two years removed from high school, having someone who can provide a fresh perspective outside of the coaching staff has served as a key asset to the growth and maturity of the team.

Because there are worse places the players could be, sometimes that message has to be pounded into their minds before it truly hits home.

“They could be working 40 hours a week or they could be working graveyard. College basketball is a full-time deal in itself; you have to balance school, maybe a part-time job,” Hull said. “Sometimes it can be overwhelming for guys coming fresh out of high school, playing only three months out of the year.

“Now all of a sudden you’re here year ‘round and we’re asking for a lot of time out of you.”

With years of management and experience in the customer service industry, biding his time between school and basketball may be a reprieve from his years at Shilo Inn. Nowadays, he is studying to get his associate of arts degree in business management and accounting.

So today, the “freshman” in his mid-20s has found his niche. And he is putting his experience in management to good use on the basketball court, being the vocal leader and motivational centerpiece for the young team around him.

Story by Darren Shimp, who can be reached at darren@htsports.org.