Pecos basketball: Former player takes reins of program

Clyde Sanchez says he hopes to 'bring back Panther pride' as head coach

Lee Yobbi | The New Mexican

6/19/2008 - 6/20/08

This time when David Bustos moved on, Clyde Sanchez didn't follow.

The two had coached side-by-side for nearly a decade at West Las Vegas and Pecos high schools. Bustos left Pecos after two seasons and was hired in May to be the head boys basketball coach at Las Vegas Robertson. He will be minus an assistant who stayed behind and stayed home.

Sanchez was hired on Thursday as the head boys basketball coach of the Panthers, a team he played for before graduating from Pecos in 1981.

"I played ball here," Sanchez said. "You always want to go back to your roots. I had other opportunities, but this is what I wanted most."

That desire came through to a five-person search committee. It was part of what separated Sanchez from the eight other applicants and another finalist.

"I think Clyde is someone that knows the district (4AA), he knows the kids," said Pecos Independent Schools superintendent Roy Herrera, who has final say in the hire. Herrera would not say who the other finalist was. Former Monte del Sol head coach Ralph Casaus said he was also a candidate.

Sanchez is entering his first head-coaching job after coaching C-team and junior varsity, but Pecos basketball is in his blood.

"Clyde not only has compassion for the kids, he has compassion for the community," said incoming athletics director Dan Padilla, who served on the search committee. "He has a lot of pride in Pecos. He said one of the things he wanted to do was bring back the Panther pride."

That would mean getting Pecos not only to the state tournament for the first time since 2007, but deep into the event where the Panthers haven't been since a 2005 Class AA championship loss to archrival Mora. The team is still looking for its first state title since 1966.

Bustos was 33-22 in two seasons and 13-12 in 2007-08. The Panthers lost to Santa Fe Preparatory in the first round of the District 4AA Tournament, 60-58.

Sanchez said his highest priority is to get the program synchronized in a singular direction.

"We need to get everybody together on one page," he said. "One group, one team, not just rely on one player."

The Panthers relied heavily on then-junior and leading scorer Tim Baca to carry the load last season. Sanchez is already trying to break that mold. During summer workouts, if a player doesn't take an open shot, he leaves the floor.

"That's the only way they are going to build confidence, is to shoot," Sanchez said.

Sanchez knows what's in front of him: There is talent on the floor. There are expectations in the stands. But none of it is new to Sanchez.

Contact Lee Yobbi at 986-3041.