Tribune/John Byrne - Veteran Hug boys basketball coach Brian Voyles directs his players during a recent practice in preparation for the state tourney.
Voyles has built the Hawks' program into one of the area's best, but when he goes home to reflect on games and watch film, he does it from a sofa in Sparks.
Voyles has been a coaching staple in northern Nevada for a long time. He's been at Hug for the past 10 years. He guided Lowry, when it was still in the 4A ranks, for two years prior to his tenure at Hug, and coached at Rite of Passage for nine years before that.
He jokes about the cross-town work commute from his home in Sparks to Reno's Hug High School, adding his work travels are a lot easier than they used to be.
"When I coached at Lowry, it was a 176-mile commute to Winnemucca, now I've got a whole 1.6 miles. I'm big on location," Voyles quipped.
Apparently he's also big on old cars and tender meat that clings to bones.
"I love Sparks. I love ribs. I really enjoy going to downtown Sparks for all the events," Voyles said, alluding to Victorian Square events like the annual rib cook-off. "I really enjoy going to all of them."
Voyles has led his Hug boys hoop team to a 19-8 record this season and a Northern 4A championship, which it clinched last Saturday with a last-second win over defending state champion Reno. With the regional crown, Hug earned the North's lone berth into this week's 4A state tournament, which is being played at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
This is the Hawks' fourth state tournament appearance under Voyles, who also guided the HHS squad to state in 2002, 03 and 2006. However, those three previous state tourneys were all held at Lawlor Events Center on the University of Nevada campus in Reno.
Voyles was ecstatic to take his team on the road to state this week.
"I'm an old guy and I feel like a little kid, the Hawks' 49-year-old coach said. "I very much enjoy the trips with the kids. It's a lot of fun and we've got a high level of trust."
Considering Voyles has been a high school basketball coach for more than 20 years, it's not a leap to suggest that he loves what he does. He admitted coaching is a passion.
"It's a weird comparison but I once heard a ball-room dancing teacher say that once he stepped on the floor, he couldn't help but do his best and that's how I feel," Voyles said. "Basketball is consuming for me. I want to give my best. I do love it. I love that you don't have to be the most talented and there are still a lot of things you can do to help your team put the ball in the hole and win."
Many coaches have come and gone during Voyles' 10 years at Hug. The school, which sits in North Reno, serves many minority students and some of Reno's poorer neighborhoods. Coaching at Hug comes with some challenges that don't exist at other local schools, but Voyles says he's never thought seriously about jumping ship to another program.
"It's crossed my mind, usually when I've spent a long couple days fundraising," Voyles said. "But I don't like it here. I love it here."
Voyles said that funding is the biggest challenge. Running a prep program takes money, whether for equipment or to pay assistant coaches or travel to out-of-state tournaments. Some programs can simply ask players to have their parents write a check. That's not the case at Hug.
"At some schools, people may give you a check for a couple thousand dollars, but there are strings attached to that whether you admit it or not," Voyles said. "I have to answer to everybody when it comes to how I treat the kids, but I don't have to answer to anybody but myself when it comes to fundraising."
If there's a way to raise money for prep athletes, Voyles has probably looked into it. For instance, he has recently hosted and supervised indoor soccer at the Hug gym to make some extra money for his student athletes.
Fourth-year Hug principal Andy Kelly knows he's got a good one in Voyles. Kelly admitted there are challenges to coaching at Hug. He said that while many Hug coaches could go and be successful at other schools that wouldn't necessarily be the case if other school's coaches left to work at Hug.
"I think to be an effective coach here, you have to be an effective encourager of kids and an effective role model because some of these kids don't get that at home," Kelly said. "It's a difficult job and he's worked hard.
"I think Brian invests as much time and energy in the kids as anyone I've worked with. I think our success this season is largely due to his not giving up. It was a tough start and he got our kids to peak at just the right time."
Voyles isn't the only Sparks resident with the last name Voyles who is developing a hoop passion. Both of his daughters, Jessica (16) and Christen (13), and his son Dillon (10) all shoot their share of hoops on the hardwood.
"I've never forced basketball on them but they love to play. Of course they've always been around the bouncing ball," Voyles said. "They all have a passion for the game and it's not anything I did. They just love the game."
Voyles is also supported by his wife Colleen.
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