MORE THAN BASKETBALL

Jeremy MacDonald is a lot of things. He is a coach, he's an educator, he's a leader and he's a role model. He is also the architect of one of the great Class C basketball dynasties in history - and he has built it his way.

It's true that players win games, not coaches. But when you win as much as the Box Elder Bears have under MacDonald, it's not a coincidence. And when you delve into what MacDonald has accomplished in six short years on the sidelines, it's safe to assume, he's well on his way to being one of the great coaches in Class C history.

"I haven't thought about that a whole lot," MacDonald said when asked about his legacy. "I am a student of the game. I grew up watching state tournaments, and when I was a little kid I dreamed about winning a state title, like a lot of Montana kids do. I grew up playing basketball in my basement and my backyard, so to be able to do that as a coach has been really special. Maybe when I am older I will think about how unique this run has been. But right now, I am just focusing on how I can get my team better."

While MacDonald's focus is on the present and the future, a look back at the past shows just how good the Bears have been since he took over back in 2011. That year, Box Elder went 14-8 and came up one game short of qualifying for the Northern C Divisional. One year later, the Bears went 18-5 and won their first of five consecutive District 9C championships. But even then, MacDonald, who saw his team lose out to Big Sandy at the Northern C, knew what was needed to reach another level.

"One of the first things I noticed was how some teams were able to manhandle us." MacDonald said. "Whether they were able to pack it in on us or physically move us underneath for easy buckets. Chinook and Big Sandy were both having a ton of success in football at the time and that physical strength translated over to the basketball court, where we maybe played a little more basketball than them, they were better athletes than we were."

With that in mind, the Bears went to work getting not only tougher, but stronger and faster. Weight lifting became part of the program. In the summer, kids weren't just shooting around and playing hoops anymore, suddenly, they were lifting weights and conditioning.

"It became an expectation," MacDonald said. "We spent a lot of time getting our boys into the weight room. We also made it part of our practices. We were putting in three hour practices and in the first hour, we were in the weight room and the second hour, we were doing conditioning drills and the other hour, we would work on our offense and defense.

"The kids were pretty dedicated," he added. "And then we started to see some success and once they got to experience some of that success, it was a huge motivator for them. And we had a group of kids that really took off and set the tone for the culture that we wanted to build."

After just missing out on divisionals in 2012 and the state tournament in 2013, Box Elder broke through and won its first divisional championship in 2014, followed by its first Class C state championship in 20 years later that spring in Butte.

It was year three under MacDonald and already Box Elder had reached the pinnacle of Class C basketball. But the Bears were far from finished.

In 2015, the Bears, who went 27-0 in 2014, pushed their win streak to 31 games before losing to Highwood. According to the MHSA record books, it's tied for the seventh longest winning streak in the history of boys basketball in Montana. Box Elder didn't win the state championship or even make it to state at the end of the 2014-15 season, but last year, Box Elder won its second state title in three years. And now, after winning another district championship and making a third appearance in four years at the state tournament, it's safe to say MacDonald's Bears, who have won an average 21.5 games since 2011, are something special.

"I know that we have been on a pretty historical run," MacDonald said. "We have gotten a lot of compliments on what we have been able to accomplish. Maybe after the season is over, we will think about it a little bit more and talk about it with some people more. But we are on a pretty rare run. My friend said we are on a nine-game winning streak at the state tournament. We also won five district titles, which to my knowledge hadn't been done before."

MacDonald doesn't get a lot of time for reflection. But recently, on a trip with his coaching staff to watch Rocky Boy play, he and his staff had a chance to look back.

"We were driving back and you get a chance to think about things like that on long drives," MacDonald said. "We figured out that over the last four years, our tournament record is 30-2, which is something I think is pretty special. We lost to Highwood and Hays-Lodge Pole at divisionals, but other than that, we haven't lost another tournament game. Sometimes in the first round, you play a team that is not as competitive, but usually after that you are playing pretty solid basketball teams, so the fact that we have been able to go 30-2 in tournaments over the past four years, that might be one of the more impressive numbers that has come out of the success that we have had."

While MacDonald is proud of the success he has had on the court and on the sidelines at Box Elder, his accomplishments don't end there. Three years ago, MacDonald took over as the principal of Box Elder Schools, which now has a projected graduation rate of 80 percent.

"To me, coaching is education, we are trying to help young people develop," MacDonald said. "It's very similar to being a teacher. I enjoy coaching a little more than I do teaching, but I know that teaching and education are a lot more important than sports. They both have their rewarding experiences. This year, we are estimating our graduating class is going to be in the 80 percent, which for Box Elder, is a number we haven't reached in decades. So I think at the school, we are doing things to develop young people and that's something that's more important than basketball games."

Another unique thing about MacDonald is that he is living his dream in his own backyard. He attended both Rocky Boy and Box Elder while he was in high school and played in a state tournament for the Stars in 1996, finishing third. Yet the coach said his experience on the bench has been far better than his one on the floor, in part because of his own mistakes.

"As a player, it wasn't the same experience, because I made some mistakes off the court at that time in my life," MacDonald said. "And I think that hurt me as far as my athletic career goes. So one thing I have emphasized as a coach is to, hopefully, get my boys to not make some of the mistakes that I made when I had that opportunity, and I think, for the most part, they have. They have been better decision-makers than I was at that age, and that has given me a lot of satisfaction. To know that I have helped some kids achieve their dreams that I wasn't able to as a player, means a lot to me. You can see a bigger picture as an adult that maybe you don't understand as a kid, and that's kind of how I have thought about comparing it as a player and a coach."

When it comes to giving back and working to help students and players, few can compare to MacDonald. However, that wasn't necessarily the motivation for him to get into coaching, that was all about his love for the game of basketball, which started at a young age.

"I grew up in a basketball household," MacDonald said. "My dad played at Northern for a little while and I always went around with him to tournaments. He coached at Stone Child and they won the national title one year. He coached at Rocky Boy and he took us around to play basketball a lot. So I grew up with a love for the game in my household. I went into teaching with the hope of someday coaching, I knew teachers had a better chance of coaching at least in Montana."

However, MacDonald's coaching days would have to wait. First, he moved to Missoula, where he graduated from the University of Montana with degrees in elementary education and Native American studies. He then moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he earned a master's degree and taught third grade, before eventually returning to Montana. After coaching youth basketball in Rocky Boy for a couple years, MacDonald got his shot with the Bears.

"I had a couple of chances to coach down in Phoenix," MacDonald said. "I put in for a C-squad job at one of the city schools, but I was working another job that paid more money and I needed to make some money at that time of my life. So I didn't have the opportunity to coach. But then I moved back and coached at Rocky Boy for a couple years and that went well and then Box Elder's head job opened up and Zane Rosette encouraged me to apply and I went for it. The Box Elder school board took a chance, and I think that it has worked out well for everybody."

It has obviously worked out well for Box Elder and for MacDonald, who has put together one of the great six-year coaching runs in Montana high school basketball history. In fact, according to the MHSA, his winning percentage, which is 86.5 with a career record of 129-20, ranks first all time among coaches with at least 100 games under their belt.

MHSA records aren't always complete and records don't always tell the entire story. But when it comes to MacDonald, the proof is in the pudding. With two state championships, two divisional titles, five district championships and three state tournament berths, his six-year run in Box Elder has been extraordinary, even if the 38-year old is far from finished.

"I love basketball," MacDonald said. "I love studying the game and watching it and being around it. So hopefully, I will have to opportunity to coach for a long time to come."

But whether he hangs it up in one year, five years or 20, MacDonald has already created a lasting legacy for himself, one that will put him among the greatest coaches and leaders, Montana High School basketball has ever seen.