A group of Wilcox basketball players were surprised when they met new Chargers’ hoops coach Robert Toloy.
“They were expecting this guy who is 6-5 or 6-4 and here I am 5-8 and Filipino,” Toloy said with a laugh.
Toloy, 55, formerly assisted Tim Amundsen at Clovis East and at Hoover-Fresno. Amundsen is a disciple of Vance Walberg, a former prep coach who is now an assistant with the Sacramento Kings.
Toloy favors full-court defensive pressure which he hopes leads to quick scores. On offense, he plans to employ the dribble-drive motion attack also favored by Walberg which depends upon proper spacing to create gaps, while also emphasizing an attack mentality.
Wilcox’s new coach played at Oak Grove High, San Jose City College and the College of Idaho. He also played some pro ball in the Philippines. He is enthused about the system he will employ.
“It’s a unique, proven system that’s validated,” Toloy said. “At Clovis East we took over a program that was bad and in less than four years got it to a state level.”
Toloy is replacing Patrick Galos, who resigned while expressing a desire to get into college coaching, according to Wilcox athletic director Woody Freitas. The Chargers went 9-16 under Galos last season.
The cupboard is not bare at Wilcox. The Chargers will have back such standouts as Jace Wycliff and Julian Jones. Jones was injured last season.
Wilcox's AD hopes they'll flourish under Toloy's tutelage.
“He’s passionate,” Freitas said. “I haven’t seen him coach yet, but I know he favors high-pressure defense and a fast-paced offense.”
As for Toloy’s diminutive stature – well, the Chargers will get used to that.
