PARK CITY — Michael Doleac helped the Runnin' Utes earn a trip to the NCAA championship game in 1998. He then spent 10 years in the NBA and won a title with the Miami Heat in 2006.

Now he's back in Utah — as the first-year head coach at Park City High.

His résumé is enough to get the attention of any prospective employer. But his newest job is one he never saw coming.

"When I retired, I wanted nothing to do with basketball. I actually told some people there is no way I would coach," Doleac told KSL Sports. "And here I am coaching."

After two seasons as an assistant coach, Doleac took over the reins of the Miners' boys basketball program this season.

"As a coach, it's just me helping these kids," he said. "I know I'm not a good coach. I'm learning; it's my first season, so I'm just figuring it out."

The Miners won just one game last season. Doleac's first task, then, was to change the culture of the downtrodden program.

"I love the kids, but I make sure I am tough on them, too," he said. "If you demand and set the bar up high, they'll get there. If you set it (low), they'll get there, too.

"I try to just set it high and hold them to high expectations."

The Miners have been responding to those expectations, and why wouldn't they? It's not often a high school basketball player can be coached by an NBA champion.

"He can really bring all the knowledge he has from the higher levels," said Miners guard Spencer Zur. "He brings that down to us. He'll tell us the stories of him playing in college and the NBA."

Spencer's twin brother Collin agreed.

"He knows the ins and outs of the game, stuff you wouldn't normally pick up from regular high school coaches," Collin Zur said. "He really focuses on the little things."

In his first season as the head of a program, Doleac is learning things he never imagined as a player.

"When we lose, I internalize it and try to figure it out how to give them a chance to win games," he said. "I feel worse as a coach when we lose than we did as a player."

Doleac draws on his experience to make him a better coach. But it's not how he played on the court that has taught him how to fulfill his new role; he's inspired by his former coach at Utah, the legendary Rick Majerus.

Related Story

Game Night Live: East accepts football trophy on winning basketball night

Game Night Live prep sports highlight show from Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.

"I try to emulate his preparedness. He was 100 percent prepared every single day. He demanded perfection out of his players every single day.

"I try to do it in a slightly different way than Majerus did. He said it in a little colorful way. These are high school kids ... and I love Majerus. But he had a way of being aggressive with language."

When Doleac isn't on the basketball court, he's usually roaming the hallways — heading to his other job teaching four physics classes at Park City High School.

"There's a lot of down time when you are playing ball on an NBA schedule," Doleac said. "I decided to read some nonfiction, and I read some physics books and was blown away. When I went back to school, I decided physics would be a cool thing to study."

Doleac earned a Master's degree in physics — the study of matter and energy, and a little bit of basketball.

"Physics is in everything; it's how the world works," he said. "There's definitely a lot of physics in the game of basketball."

Related topics