SEATTLE — The Garfield High School boys' basketball team has won over a dozen state championships, and they've been runners-up eight times.
Former Bulldog greats include Will Conroy, Tony Wroten, Tari Eason and current Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.
Garfield's greatest player of all time is now carrying on the winning tradition as a coach.
This season the Garfield boys are once against state contenders. University of Connecticut commit Jaylin Stewart is one of 11 seniors.
"One of our goals is 30 assists a game, so we take pride in taking care of the ball, sharing it with each other and just making everybody better," Stewart said.
Fellow senior Emmett Marquardt grew up watching Garfield.
"For me, it's community, it's family. My dad went here," Marquardt said. "So, Garfield has been in my family and then I grew up four blocks away from here, so it's always been part of me."
And Marquardt isn't alone.
"My parents graduated from here," said alumni Brandon Roy. "So, you know, as a, as a young kid, my dad would bring me back to games when it was Garfield versus Franklin, and that was my true first love of basketball. You know, it wasn't the Bulls and Michael Jordan, it was just local hoops with Jason Terry going out against the Boston brothers and that's where I fell in love with basketball."
Extended Interview: Brandon Roy talks coaching at Garfield High School after successful NBA career
Roy is one of the best players to come out of Seattle. He was the 2006 Pac-10 player of the year and an All-American. He was the NBA rookie of the year in 2007 and a three-time all-star. Kobe Bryant called Roy the hardest player to guard in the Western Conference, but bad knees would cut his career short.
In 2012 Roy called it quits after six knee surgeries.
"It was hard, I didn't think I would stop playing at 28," said Roy.
Four years later, Roy returned to the court, as a high school coach.
"My mom and dad are very humble, my mom would always say, never let your ego get too big," Roy said. "When I went into coaching I was a little nervous that I was this NBA guy and how would people look at me now, coaching high school basketball, that's kind of step down and she said, that's never been who you are, you never looked at yourself as a pro being better than anyone else, so why not go do something that you want to do."
He began coaching at Nathan Hale High in 2017 and won a state championship with an unbeaten team.
"That moment of winning a championship, I felt like a player," said Roy.
The following year he moved to his alma mater and captured a championship in 2018 and then another one in 2020, something he never did as a player.
"I wouldn't say I was a disappointment, but I will say after I finished up at Garfield, I wanted to make the school proud because I wasn't able to do it playing, so doing it as a coach has been really fun," said Roy. "We will work in practice, I'm big on you know coaching hard in practice. We work, I talk a lot, I'm out there you know I'm sweating after practice. I try to get involved and interact with the guys."
And then on game night, it's a much different story for Coach Roy.
"The biggest thing is I try to stay calm. I played, so I know how sometimes if a coach seems too excited or a little worried, that can rub off on your guys, and I try to be calm and relaxing and hope that rubs off on my guys," said Roy.
He could coach at a higher level, but Roy found happiness at Garfield High. His oldest of four is a sophomore and he doesn't want to miss one moment as his kids chase after their dreams at Garfield High.
"When I played even through high school, it was all about me," Roy said. "You know, my parents did everything they could to make sure my basketball dreams came true, and I chased my dreams as much as possible. And then I go to college and it's the same thing, it's all about me. So, I told myself, if I made it to the NBA, that once I'm done playing in the pros and I have my son into my rookie year, I said that I want to be a part of my kid's life. I really want to be like my mom and dad were towards me. I'm still having a great time coaching high school basketball and in accomplishing those goals at this level, but the next level will be more of a time crunch and I feel like I'll be putting myself first again. I don't want to do that. I enjoy being there for them every step of the way."