High School Feature: Haugen steps down at Gonzaga Prep

Gonzaga Prep boy's basketball head coach Mike Haugen is stepping down after leading the Bullpups to a 26-4 record and a fourth-place finish at state this year. There's no scandal or shifting of power, or retirement.

Haugen just wants to focus on academics as the history department head and Advanced Placement World History instructor. Glad to see in the world of sports where high school juniors are going to play pro basketball in Europe, we still have some people that have their priorities straight.

Give this man a round of applause.

He had a 255-173 career record and five Greater Spokane League coach of the year awards, and he stepped away because he valued academics more than athletics. It's guys like Haugen that I wish were holding the whistle a lot more often than the ones that care only about Ws and Ls.

Congrats on a great career on court and here's to many great years to come in the classroom.

A special thanks to the Spokesman's Mike Vlahovich for reporting on this story. Simply put, he's the GSL je-sus.