Men's Basketball
Head Coach Tim Walker
tdwalker@lcsc.edu

Tim Walker was named head men’s basketball coach at Lewis-Clark State College in May of 2005.  Walker stepped into the helm as just the third men’s basketball coach in 32 years. From 2001 to 2005 Walker served as an assistant at L-C, during which the Warriors posted an overall record of 103-34, and qualified for the NAIA National Tournament three times.

Prior to LCSC, Walker was head coach at Montana State-Northern from 1997-2001, where he was the Frontier Conference Coach of the Year for the 1997-98 season. That team set a school record with 26 victories and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NAIA National Tournament. He posted an overall record of 72-55 at the school, one of the highest winning percentages in the league over that period of time.  He also coached three All-Americans, while his players held a graduation rate of 90-plus percent.  Prior to becoming the head coach at MSU-Northern, Walker served as the assistant for three years, helping lead the Lights to their first-ever league title and an Elite Eight finish at the NAIA National Tournament. 

Walker began his coaching career at Columbus High School from 1991-1993, where he also taught History and Political Science, while coaching football and basketball.

In addition to coaching, Walker will be responsible for basketball camps while also serving as Director for the National Youth Sports Program on campus.  A native of Absarokee, Montana, he played basketball and graduated from Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT. He later received his Masters Degree in Education-Guidance and Counseling at Montana State-Northern in Havre, MT.  Walker and his wife Lynette, who works for the Department of Social & Health Services in Washington, have a son, Jake (age 13) and currently reside in Lewiston, ID.
 

Assistant Coach Pete Van Mullem
pwvanmullem@lcsc.du

Pete Van Mullem begins his second stint as an assistant basketball coach with the Warrior Men’s Basketball team for the 2007-08 season.  He will also serve as an instructor in the Health and Kinesiology Department.  An assistant to Coach Walker during the 2005-06 season, Pete spent last year as an instructor at Washington State University teaching courses in Sport Management.

Before coming to Lewis-Clark State College, Van Mullem was at Ottawa University (2002-05), a NAIA Institution located in Ottawa, KS, where he served as assistant athletic director and assistant men’s basketball coach.  His 13-year coaching career also includes stops at Cal-State Northridge (2001-02) in Los Angeles, CA and Humboldt State University (2000-01) in Arcata, CA, where as an assistant coach he helped lead the Lumberjacks to a 20-8 record and a berth in the NCAA Div. II Western Regional Tournament.  From 1993-1999, Van Mullem spent six years as an assistant basketball coach at Bozeman High School in Bozeman, MT.  He held positions of head freshman coach, junior varsity coach and varsity assistant.  In 10 years at the school as a player and a coach, Van Mullem was a part of four state championship basketball teams. 

Currently pursuing his PhD from the University of Idaho in Sport Ethics, Van Mullem earned his master’s degree from the University of Kansas in Sport Administration and completed his bachelor’s degree in business marketing from Montana State University. 

Assistant Coach Rick Dessing
radessing@lcsc.edu

Rick Dessing returns for his third season with the Warriors in 2007-08.  The former head men’s basketball coach at Montana Tech in Butte, MT, compiled a 260-244 record during his 16 years at the helm (1985-2001), and led the program to its only two appearances in the NAIA National Tournament. His teams won seven Frontier Conference championships while producing 15 Academic All-Americans. He also compiled a better win-loss record (158-127) and Conference tournament record (15-8) than any other Frontier Conference school during his 16-year tenure.  Dessing was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in April of 2005.

After Montana Tech, Dessing became head coach of the Magic City Snowbears of the Midwestern Basketball Association Pro League, where he led the team to a 14-8 record and a second-place finish. He then spent a year at Mohave Community College in Colorado City, Ariz. as a campus facilitator before becoming head coach and vice president of basketball operations for the Butte Bandits of the All-American Professional Basketball League, a new 10-team league that  began play in 2005.

Dessing began his coaching career at Bennett High School in Marion, Indiana, and was there for five years.  His record at Bennett was 57-29 and his 1983-84 team was ranked 17^th in the state of Indiana--Bennett was one of the smallest schools in the state’s one class system.  They also set a state record that season for field goal percentage, shooting a remarkable 59.6% from the field for the season. 

Dessing is a 1979 graduate of Ball State University.  He earned a Master’s degree in Administration from the University of Wisconsin in 1985, while serving as a graduate assistant coach and adjunct instructor at the Big Ten Conference School.

Rick and his wife Lisa have three children.  Their two sons Michael and Craig reside in Butte, MT and their daughter Haley is a sophomore at WSU.  Lisa also works at LCSC in the Business Department.  They reside in Clarkston, WA.

Coach Walker on Dessing:  “It’s not often that we, at this level of coaching, are able to work with an assistant with such a wealth of experience as Coach Dessing possesses.  I have known Coach Dessing for a long time, and really value his suggestions.  He is a great teacher of team defense, as well as the fundamentals of the game.  He communicates with the players well, and always has a fundamental approach to everything he does with our players.  We are very fortunate to have him in our program.”

 
Student Assistant Coach Andy Johnson

Andy Johnson joins the Warrior Men’s Basketball program in the fall of 2007 as a student assistant coach.  Andy began his basketball coaching career with the Bozeman, Montana school system (2000-2004) as a coach in their seventh and eighth grade programs.  From 2005 to 2007, Andy was an assistant coach at Bozeman High School.  During that time he was the head freshman coach and varsity assistant.   A 1999 graduate of Bozeman High School, he played high school basketball for four years and started on the Montana AA state championship team.  Andy is majoring in Kinesiology – Sports Administration / Coaching.