Fresno State Athletics
Amundsen and Father Share Special Bond
12/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - For the Amundsen household, basketball is as much of a family tradition as carving up a turkey on Thanksgiving and opening up presents on Christmas.
Bulldog senior Bailey Amundsen, now in her final season of collegiate basketball, always had the tutelage of her father Tim, a high school basketball coach, to guide her in her on-court development, whether she liked it or not.
"Because he's my dad, I have a harder time taking criticism from him, of course," Bailey said. "But I've gotten better. When I was younger, it was worse, because he always had something to say to me at the end of games, and it would just annoy me. But now I will usually ask for it, so he'll wait for that open door before he says anything."
Tim acknowledges that he was too much of a coach and not enough of a father sometimes during Bailey's early playing days.
When Bailey was playing basketball at Hoover High School in Fresno, Tim also coached the boy's basketball team at Hoover, and she couldn't escape her father's critical eye. One instance in particular that stands out was a game when she scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out five assists, however to her father, it still wasn't a complete game.
"I'd be sitting there critiquing her on what she could have done better, and I should have been like, `Hey, great job!'" Tim said. "No matter how good she did, it wasn't good enough for me. And I learned as a parent ... the next year and a half; I really worked on just backing off and watching her play, and just being supportive. And I actually started enjoying the games more."
Around the same time Tim began to learn to back off, Bailey began to realize the asset her father could be to her.
Although growing up she played soccer, volleyball, basketball and softball, she realized she had more of a future with basketball. She asked her father to work her out for basketball, they started going to the gym four-to-five times per week and run drills for a couple hours at a time.
Although it was a bumpy road at times, all the hard work and commitment paid off. After high school, Bailey began her college basketball career at nearby Reedley Community College. While there she averaged 20 points per game and led her team to two-straight league championships. She was also garnered league MVP and first-team All-State honors as a sophomore.
But despite her accomplishments at Reedley, she wasn't highly recruited. She had a few offers from a few small Division I schools and some Division II schools. But she was confident in her skills, and with no promise of a scholarship, she chose to walk on with the Bulldogs.
The original plan was for Bailey to redshirt her first year at Fresno State. However she felt she could play and contribute, and the coaching staff gave her the chance to show she could, and took her out of redshirt status for the 2007-08 season.
"(Bulldog head coach) Adrian (Wiggins) was very good, he said he would give her a fair chance, she could travel with the team," Tim said. "But she proved she could play out there. So one day Bailey came home and she's like, `Dad, they want me to play.'"
It didn't take Bailey long to show she could make an immediate impact. In the first game of the season, she came off the bench and scored 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, against nationally-ranked California.
She became the Bulldogs second sub off the bench and ended the season as the Bulldogs sixth leading scorer at 6.6 points per game, earning a scholarship for the 2008-09 season.
"It was great because coach Wiggins kept his word, he said `If she was good enough and if she earned it, then they would give her a scholarship," Tim said. "We knew he would, he's a solid guy."
And that scholarship paid off for the `Dogs. So far in the young season, she has started all five games and is the Bulldogs' leading rebounder at 9.2 rebounds per game and second in scoring at 14.4 points per game.
Ironically the intense commitment to the game that they share also takes them away each other at times.
"I wish I could get to more of his games throughout the season, because I love watching his teams play, but you never know with our schedule," Bailey said. "It's kind of hard."
One of those times was March 1, 2008. Tim, who now coaches at Clovis East, was guiding the Timberwolves to a Central Section Championship with a 60-56 victory over the rival Clovis West Eagles. It was Tim's Timberwolves' second-straight valley championship.
However Bailey couldn't be there. She was in Las Cruces, N.M., inbounding a pass to teammate Hayley Munro, who lofted up a shot from beyond midcourt with time expiring as the ball soared to and through the rim, giving the Bulldogs an 85-84 overtime win over New Mexico State. Without the win, Fresno State would not have earned a share of the regular season WAC title and received the top seed for the conference tournament.
The dramatic finish gave the Bulldogs hoops team some national recognition and even made SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Week.
"We're watching ESPN and my daughter is the one making the pass," Tim said. "I'm just as excited as everyone for the team, but also I'm watching my daughter. I'm like, `Hey, that's my daughter -- the one that made the pass!'"
Tim knows a good play when he sees one. He isn't one of those coaches who can only coach and never actually played. He starred for Newark Memorial High School in the bay area, and followed that with a college career at Fresno Pacific.
"He's probably the best shooter I've ever seen in my life," Bailey said. "I don't think he ever misses."
Even though his love for the game hasn't left him, in the past couple years his opportunities to play have been severely limited with hip injuries bothering him. Last year he had his hip replaced and he hasn't been able to play basketball at all.
"I almost cried when I found out he couldn't play," Bailey said.
But like all great shooters say - shooting never left him. And even though it's against doctor's orders, he still shoots around and plays an occasional game. In fact, last time the two played one-on-one, he still beat her. However it wasn't a complete sweep, Bailey still got one game on her dad for the first time.
"I'm not the nice dad that just lets my kids win, I don't want to give them that false sense of accomplishment," Tim said. "I'm still not at 100 percent, and if I were, she probably wouldn't be able to still beat me."
Tim also isn't the type of dad that doesn't keep his mouth shut when he beats his kids. So Bailey wasn't about to let the victory over her father go unnoticed.
"She went home and told my wife and my son and my other two daughters," Tim said. "She makes sure everyone knows about that."
Despite Tim's hands on approach, he never actually coached Bailey. And they both acknowledge that might be for the better.
"I'd say she is very coachable when someone else coaches her," Tim said. "When I talk to her, she doesn't respond well ... I always wanted to coach my daughter Bailey, but I don't think it would have turned out well. I think she just wants me to be a dad and be supportive and sit there and say positive things."
Bailey's 12-year-old brother Nathan, on the other hand, already has felt the direct effect of his father's coaching his AAU team, and will have his father coach him at Clovis East.
"My brother is going to get it worse than I ever did," Bailey said. "That's for sure."
But for now, Tim is fine with just being a proud parent.
"I'm living a dream," Tim said. "I'm proud of where she's at, and most important, she's going to graduate and get her education. Every time I go to the Save Mart Center, what a beautiful place that is, my wife and I say, `This is awesome. We get to go to that place and watch our daughter play at the highest level.' And we just try to soak it in and enjoy every moment of it."
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs return to the Save Mart Center on Thursday, December 4 in the Papé Slam as they host TCU in the Save Mart Center at 7:00 pm. It's Thursday Night at the Save Mart Center and all Fresno State and Fresno Unified School District faculty and staff can receive $2 tickets with presentation of their ID (limit 4 tickets) at the Save Mart Center box office. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
