Yuba City's Grahl: The man with the plan

By the mid 1990s, it looked like Kurt Grahl's coaching career was all but over.

An assistant coach at UC Davis in 1994, Grahl was putting in countless hours for the Aggies' basketball program but had little to show for it, and by that time he had enough of coaching and decided to pursue a law degree.

He put down the clipboard and attended law school at Indiana University, and for three years he was a season ticket holder for the Hoosiers' basketball team led by legendary coach Bob Knight.

But after returning to California and practicing law for a few years, Grahl decided to leave the cour room to pursue his true passion — coaching basketball.

And after coaching the freshman team at Granite Bay and finishing a three-year stint as head coach at McNair High in Stockton, Grahl came to Yuba City with high expectations.

"During the summer (league) we showed glimpses of doing something special, but we didn't put it all together at the same time," Grahl said. "Then in our last tournament we played this team that was just dynamite and came out with our tail between our legs and were down by 20 at the half."

But then something happened in the locker room. Grahl gave an impassioned speech at the break and the Honkers responded to turn things around.

"I thought, 'what a cruddy way to end the summer,' but we had a little talk and came out that second half and played like gangbusters," Grahl said. "We ended up winning by seven, but if we would've kept playing, I think we would've won by 20."

From that point forward the Honkers were a team on a mission, and despite returning just one starter from last year's team, Grahl led Yuba City to a 24-4 record, the best in school history.

For his efforts, Grahl has been named the Appeal-Democrat All-Area Coach of the Year.

"The thing I'm most proud of is the work we put in together. We weren't expected to win our league and when the Sacramento Bee came out with their Top 20, we were nowhere to be found." Grahl said. "I'm proud, but this is an award for the entire coaching staff."

Making Grahl's accomplishments even more impressive was the fact that there were several unknowns entering the year.

"The juniors were very successful at the JV level, but they had a ways to go to get ready for varsity," Grahl said. "Getting the two groups to blend together was how we were able to be successful."