Roughly 1,200 miles away from Northridge, Calif., Jack Dyck is immersed in the peaceful tranquility, beautiful scenery and quiet surroundings of Sandpoint, Idaho.
The small town is roughly one-eighth the size of Northridge and has been the home of Dyck for over 30 years. Since leaving Southern California in 1992, he has in his own words "never looked back."
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Looking back at his CSUN career, it only seems apropos that the mild-mannered former Matador has chosen the simple life for nearly three decades.
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When reminiscing about his CSUN career from 1971-75, Dyck attributes his success on the court to durability and hard work. With excellent work habits, he was able to carve out a Hall of Fame career with the Matadors.
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"I had a decent number of assists, a decent number of rebounds and a decent number of points," said Dyck. "I think that was my game. I wasn't great at anything but good at everything instead."
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Dyck was the first recruit of Hall of Fame coach Pete Cassidy and went on to play three varsity seasons with the Matadors. He earned All-American status as a senior and went on to play professionally in Austria for three seasons.
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Many familiar with the Southern California high school basketball scene in the 1980s may remember Dyck as the longtime coach of the Beverly Hills High School boys basketball team. He led the team for 12 seasons, winning four league titles and earning nine postseason trips.
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After leaving Beverly Hills, Dyck became the coach at Sandpoint High School for four seasons and worked as the school's athletic director until 2004. If his coaching career wasn't complete enough, he coached club youth volleyball for over 30 years.
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A tireless worker, Dyck only began slowing down his coaching in 2016. In many ways, his work ethic as a coach is an extension of his playing days all those years ago.
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"I used to tell my players that I got chickenpox one day in my senior year and I had to miss a game at UC Irvine," remembers Dyck. "I played basketball every single day. I would put a leather ball in my car, and if I couldn't go to a gym, I'd hop a fence to an elementary school so I could shoot."
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Before coming to CSUN, Dyck starred on the Granada Hills High School basketball team. He averaged a team-high 19 points in his senior season and helped the Highlanders reach a No. 1 city ranking during the year. He once played a playoff game against Chatsworth High School on the same day as the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. Â
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After graduating, Dyck joined the Matadors in Cassidy's first year at the helm in 1971. To Dyck, CSUN seemed to be the perfect fit for him.
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"I was a late bloomer so I wasn't highly recruited," said Dyck. "I thought I would have the opportunity to go and play at CSUN so it checked all the boxes. I like Pete a lot too."
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Dyck started his career on the freshman team in 1971 where he had the opportunity to practice and compete alongside several talented CSUN varsity players including future NBA player Paul McCracken.
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Dyck joined the varsity team a year later and was a key contributor, averaging 10 points per game. He improved that average to 13 points a year later before posting 16 points and eight rebounds as a senior. In three years, he accumulated 235 career assists, leaving as the school's top assist-man.
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Feasting in Cassidy's high-post offense, Dyck scored at will from the perimeter and could have been one of the top 3-point shooters in CSUN history, had the 3-point shot been implemented in the college game back then.
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"I was 6-4 and a half and I played every position," said Dyck. "I started out as a two-guard in my first two years then in my junior year I moved over to small forward and in my senior year I literally played every position."
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Playing alongside All-American George Robnett and All-Conference selections, Louis Hamm and Craig Nance, it seemed on paper Dyck would be a part of several conference title runs. However, it did not work out that way.
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"We were snake-bit by injuries," said Dyck "My junior year, we had a really good recruiting year and we were all excited because we had George Robnett back. We started the year off well but then our postman and a forward went down. I went from being an off-guard to playing the high-post that year. It seemed we could not quite get over the hump and win a conference title.
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"We were very competitive and won our fair share of games but it showed how good a coach Pete was because we had to really scramble sometimes with players in different positions," added Dyck. "I think Pete valued character and that was my experience at CSUN – we were guys that were hard workers and good teammates."
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Improving year after year, Dyck would post his best season as a CSUN player in 1974-75. He earned All-CCAA First team honors for the first time and capped the year with an All-American award. He shot nearly 49 percent as the team's primary scorer.
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"I got better every year," said Dyck. "I think my shooting touch improved because I shot so much in the offseason. I got a little better physically and in my senior year, it all came together. I was lucky, I got to play the whole time in my career so there's no substitute for playing."
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Perhaps, Dyck's best game of his Matador career came on Jan. 25, 1975 when he scored 28 against UC Santa Barbara. Dyck would go 13-for-19 from the field in that game, scoring a majority of those baskets against future NBA player and Los Angeles Laker, Don Ford.
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"Most of those shots were from the outside because [Ford] was 6-9 and I think they told him to let me shoot," said Dyck. "I had one of those nights. Looking back, I bet probably half of my field goals were outside the 3-point line."
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After completing his collegiate basketball career, Dyck would be noticed by professional teams in a summer pro league held at Cal State L.A. He was one of nearly 600 players selected to play in the league and stood out enough to be offered a professional contract to play for Klub Klosterneuburg in Austria.
Dyck accepted the offer and moved to Austria to begin his professional career in 1976. He even persuaded his former teammate and good friend, Nance, to join him. Dyck won national championships in 1978 and 1979 while his team competed for the European Cup on multiple occasions.
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Craig Nance and Jack Dyck
"I was one of the shorter professionals playing in Europe and I kind of caused a lot of matchup issues for the opponents," said Dyck.
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"We had a great bunch of guys on our team," continued Dyck. "We did well, we won our country every year and we got to go to the European Cup, which was fantastic.
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While playing professionally, the time abroad allowed him and his wife Robin to travel to a host of countries.
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"We traveled to Egypt, Spain, Hungary and we played in Cairo in a stadium in the middle of the Nile, which was a neat experience for both of us," said Dyck.
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After the 1979 season, Dyck had the opportunity to return to the United States and coach. Dyck was no stranger to coaching as he had worked as an assistant coach to Cassidy in 1975-76.
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"I had so much fun learning drills, talking about philosophies and taking the team and looking at their strengths and weaknesses," said Dyck. "His drills were very well-planned out and with a purpose. It taught me the value of fundamentals but also how to teach fundamentals. It helped me later on when I became a coach."
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In 1979, Dyck would be hired as an assistant coach at Beverly Hills High School before assuming head coaching duties a year later. He would lead the program until 1991, helping establish the Normans as one of the top teams in the city. Along the way, he also served as an athletic director beginning in 1981.
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"I loved coaching teams," said Dyck. "At Beverly Hills, we had some amazing teams and we had a lot of success against teams that would eventually be state champions. We coached against Harold Minor, who played in the NBA. I remember we played Muir High School and they had Stacey Augmon and Jacque Vaughn and we were able to beat them in the CIF Tournament."
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Dyck would coach the Normans to a 173-104 record, highlighted by a 25-4 campaign in 1990, which was led by future CSUN player Peter Micelli (1990-94). That season, Beverly Hills reached the CIF playoffs before losing to the eventual champion Glendora High School. Among the many highlights at Beverly Hills, Dyck defeated third-ranked and unbeaten Mater Dei in 1987.
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"As a coach, you really relish the competitive wins but also the relationship with all the kids," said Dyck. "When you coach a lot you have all the different memories – the competitive wins are great but you remember the agonizing losses."
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Long nights at work and fewer hours at home contributed to his decision to move on from his post at Beverly Hills. After his departure, his family made a fateful summer trip up the coast of California and into the Northwest, which would lead him to his next destination.
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"I had an uncle living in Spokane and we would go over to Sandpoint," said Dyck. "The next year a few jobs came open and we decided this would be the best place for us. We've been here ever since."
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Dyck would be hired as the head basketball coach and athletic director of Sandpoint High School in 1992. He coached the basketball team until 1996 but stayed on as the AD for another eight years.
Suffice to say, the job had its fair share of differences from Beverly Hills High School.
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"Our basketball team was fantastic our first year – we got good crowds at Beverly but up here the gym was sold out every night and it rejuvenated my coaching energy," said Dyck.
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"Being the athletic director at a small school in Idaho is way different in terms of the hands-on things," added Dyck. "I cut the grass, lined the football field and did a lot of the things that at Beverly I wouldn't do. Trying to do that and be the head basketball coach was really difficult."
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While basketball has been a big part of his coaching career, Dyck also coached volleyball for many years. His volleyball ties trace back to his time at CSUN. After his senior season, Dyck not only served as a coach to the Matador basketball team but he also played club volleyball at the school in 1976.
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Dyck eventually made his way to coaching youth club volleyball. Over his lengthy career, he led his teams to 15 regional championships and 15 trips to the Junior Olympics. He also spent 2014-15 as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Arizona.
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"I coached club volleyball for 35 years," said Dyck. "My daughter was a club volleyball player and a Division I athlete so I coached volleyball to keep that fix going."
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The Dyck family has deep volleyball roots with the University of Arizona over the years. His daughter, Amy, was a setter for the Wildcats from 2004-07 while his son, Matt attended UA from 2001-05 and is currently an assistant coach to the volleyball team.
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After winding down his coaching career in 2016, Dyck has seemed content with his decision to step away from the sidelines over the last few years. Looking at his future, he sees nothing but clear skies ahead and fewer games to coach.
"I've got a good 35 years in and I'm going on 66 years old," said Dyck. "At this point in my life, it's more about staying healthy, working out and playing golf.
