High school girls basketball: Milestone win for longtime Bingham coach

SOUTH JORDAN — Rand Rasmussen reached a milestone when he earned his 400th win as Bingham's girls basketball coach last week.

But he says it's far from an individual achievement. He likes to point out that he's never scored a point or grabbed a rebound in his 21 years as the Miners' coach and the credit goes the players he's coached and the assistants who've helped him.

"This is a program that's all about the kids," Rasmussen said. "The captains run the show. We've got a lot of tough kids in this program that aren't afraid. They're going to battle and fight you every inch of the way."

Rasmussen is just the second girls basketball coach in state history to reach 400 wins. He has compiled a 400-79 record at Bingham, led the Miners to 13 region titles, 13 final four appearances and four state championships. Rasmussen earned his 400th win when the Miners beat Layton 54-49 on Thursday.

In addition to being one of the most successful coaches in state history, Rasmussen knows he's one of the more polarizing figures in Utah high school sports. His detractors say he yells too much on the sidelines, is too hard on his players and runs up the score when he gets the chance.

His players say that Rasmussen, who received about 150 congratulatory texts and phone messages after picking up win No. 400, isn't what outsiders perceive him to be.

"We all know what people say and we just laugh because we know it's not true and we keep it within our family," said Bingham post player and captain Rachel Gines. "We know what goes on here. People get the wrong impression of Rand. I wish people could know what a good man he is and how he helps people behind the scenes."

Like Rasmussen or not, one can't argue with the success he's enjoyed at Bingham. His emphasis is always on team success rather than individual accolades. He's never had a player average more than 12.8 points per game but still managed to coach dozens of all-state players and ones who went on to play in college. Numerous players such as Malinda Lynch, Stephanie Sampson, Megan Marks, Nicole Yazzie and Debbie Dimond and current captains Gines, Chalese Fankhouser, Nicole Newbold and Meghan Herrick have been instrumental in the program's success.

"It takes good players that understand we all want to be all-state, we all want to get scholarships," Rasmussen said. "If you want to be all-state, you have to get to the final four. To do that, they have to buy into the system. They understand it's about the group, it's not about you."

Another factor in Bingham's success, Rasmussen says, is the consistency in the program. If a player misses a practice or school, she won't play in a game. If a player's grade point average drops, she'll sit until it gets fixed.