After three-year hiatus, Rob Adams returning to lead Lynden High School girls basketball program

Turns out Rob Adams wasn't ready to close the door tight on coaching again.

The only coach in WIAA history to win at least three Class 2A girls basketball championships, Adams has returned to the program with which he's had so much success - Lynden High School - for the upcoming 2023-24 season, replacing Vic Wolffis.

Adams resigned following the Lions' run to the 2A crown in 2020, defeating West Valley of Spokane to cap a 27-1 season, citing a need to spend more time following his two sons' basketball careers.

But now he's back.

"I did miss (coaching)," Adams said. "I don’t miss the parts everybody assumes I did. I did not miss the games, the travel on the bus and giving up summers. I missed the competitive spirit of it - and practice."

After winning 261 games, and leading the program to 10 WIAA state trophies in his 13 seasons, Adams did take time away to follow his oldest son, Dawson, play on the Lions' varsity boys team.

Dawson is finishing his first year at Grand Canyon University right now, and his youngest son, Spencer, is days away from completing his ninth-grade year at Lynden.

"As I started checking the boxes off (in returning to Lynden as a coach), it really came down to my wife and youngest son, who will be a sophomore and will have a chance to play varsity basketball at Lynden," Adams said. "If it made sense to us as a family, we were all in.

"With my youngest one, every relationship is different. He is more of a 'Let's get in the weight room, work on the game' type. So that box I had to check with him, nothing was going to change working him out."

Then there was the self-realization that Adams still had more to give to the sport as a bench leader.

"I retired, but I didn't really leave the gym with my two boys," Adams said. "The more and more I was in there, the more I thought I still might have a little something to give - and that my time might not be completely done."

Lynden has had two coaches since Adams stepped down - Aaron Bogaard (2021) and Wolffis (2022, 2023), who guided the program to back-to-back WIAA tournament appearances before resigning in April.

Adams inherits a fantastic core group of underclassmen, including all-Northwest Conference first-team forward Payton Mills, who will be a sophomore in 2023-24. And touted Finley Parcher will be coming in as a ninth grader.

This group has the makings of being a state contender right away. Now players have to get used to the new voice of the successful coach they've only heard about.

"They don't know me, but they know of our program for those 13 years," Adams said. "They've just heard the stories."

(Featured photo by Hailey Palmer/Lynden Tribune)