‘I knew he was the right guy.’ Bears’ new girls basketball coach has Merced roots
Merced High’s administrators didn’t have to look far to find a new girls basketball coach. They found one within the Bears family.
Willie Steverson, 40, was recently named the new Bears girls basketball coach.
The 2000 Merced High graduate has been a longtime assistant football coach and has spent time as an assistant basketball coach in the boys and girls programs. He’ll continue coaching football.
“It’s really special,” Steverson said. “It’s something you don’t realize until it happens to you. I’m glad it happened. Merced High has a lot of tradition in all sports and it’s fun to be around and to be a a part of and I’m excited to see what mark I can make to add to the tradition.”
Steverson works as a correctional officer. Merced athletic director Paul Hogue was concerned about handing out the program to an off-campus coach, but felt comfortable Steverson would make it work.
“A lot of things had to be worked out but Willie guaranteed it wouldn’t be a problem,” Hogue said. “Once that was worked out I knew he was the right guy.”
Steverson becomes the second new coach in the Central California Conference with El Capitan recently naming Tyler Dietz-Powers as its new girls head coach.
Steverson played football and basketball in high school, playing basketball for former Merced coach Vince Clemons, the legendary coach whose name appears on the court in the gym.
Steverson says he plans to still use a lot of the fundamentals, drills and strategies he learned playing for Clemons.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “When I was coaching the boys we implemented a bunch of that stuff and helped the program. Coach Clemons has always been a big part of the Merced High tradition.”
Hogue says he’s liked Steverson’s coaching style since joining the football coaching staff over a decade ago.
“I’ve known Willie a long time,” Hogue said. “I coached him in high school when he played for us. He’s been coaching since 2006. He’s been coaching a long time and I’ve liked his style. He worked with (former Merced basketball coaches) Marcus (Knott) and Hector (Nava). He’s learned a lot when it comes to basketball.”
Steverson takes over a program that played for a section championship in 2020, but struggled this past spring with only one returning player and was short on numbers.
Steverson helped coach the team at the end of the season when former coach Art Solis was let go.
“Our last game we beat El Capitan. We hadn’t won any games,” said Hogue. “Our team had COVID issues, we were short on numbers. Against Golden Valley we only had seven players. Willie and our other coaches worked with the girls a bit before the last game and they went out and beat El Cap by 10 points.
“There was nothing but positive energy coming from the bench. It was kind of like an on-job interview.”
Steverson says the focus for the program will be on defense.
“It kind of goes back to when I played,” Steverson said. “I played with a defensive mentality. I was more of a defender and was always taught if you play defense the entire game it increases your chances of being successful.”
Steverson was also drawn to the coaching position because he has a daughter, Mylah Steverson, who will be a junior this year. Another daughter, Avery, will be in high school in two years.
“It’s extremely exciting because I have a daughter in the program and a younger daughter who will be in the program in two years,” Steverson said.
