Brinck first inductee into Westmont Hall of Fame

Gary Brinck knew that the Westmont High School boys basketball tournament, now in its 53rd year, was being named after him starting this year.

But there was a secret that he didn’t find out until Saturday; he is the first inductee into the Westmont Athletic Hall of Fame.

“It was overwhelming,” said Brinck, 79, who now lives in Lake Oswego, Or. “You’d say it is a coach’s dream. You never would figure that something like this would happen.”

Brinck was Westmont’s boys basketball coach for 30 seasons, starting with 1966-67 and ending in 1995-96. He also was the school’s athletic director from 1970 to 2002. In addition, he coached golf and girls tennis, and was an assistant swimming coach, mostly between 1998-2002.

Brinck finished his boys basketball coaching career with a record of 405-400. His teams won Central Coast Section titles in 1987 (Division II) and 1989 (Division III), and also reached the 1996 Division II championship game in addition to the semifinals two other years. In addition, his 86-87 squad reached the semifinals of the California Interscholastic Federation NorCal playoffs, and his teams won seven league championships.

“My philosophy is, you won by everybody scoring and everybody had to play defense and be unselfish,” Brinck said.

In addition, Brinck was a two-time winner of the CCS Honor Coach award and was a two-time North/South All-Star coach

Basketball wasn’t the only sport in which Brinck was successful. Both his girls tennis and golf teams won two league titles.

Also, Brinck was named State Athletic Director of the Year and both Campbell Union High School and Santa Clara County Teacher of the Year. He taught health education, driver’s education and physical education.

Brinck said that he enjoyed talking to his former players and statisticians last weekend “and seeing how successful they are,” he said.

When asked what stood out during his tenure at Westmont, he said “The staff and the support of the community. Of course, the kids. I think they were really good kids.”

Brinck is a 1957 graduate of Lincoln High School in San Jose. His father, George Brinck, was the basketball coach at Lincoln from 1946-1969. Brinck went to the College of the Pacific (now University of the Pacific) on a basketball scholarship, and he also was a member of the football and swimming teams at the school.

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