ROYAL CITY – After a successful season last winter where the Royal Knights went 27-3, new Head Coach Tim Ravet is excited to lead them into the future. He is excited to join a winning culture, he said.  

“That culture is built at home, and you could tell the families and the community care about winning. They're about doing it the right way, about the kids just playing the right way and kind of shaping them from boys to men, it's just the right situation for me,” Ravet said.

Ravet said he was Ellensburg’s head coach for the last three seasons before stepping away from a coaching career that spanned three decades. The motivation to step away stemmed from wanting to dedicate more time watching his daughter play college basketball. However, about halfway through the summer, he realized sitting still wasn’t for him.  

“I started thinking, ‘Man, this is pretty boring, and I'll end up being 500 pounds if I don't get to do doing something,’” he said.  

Ravet said he had some people connected to the Knights’ athletics program that were interested in interviewing him for the job. He told them he’d at least look at the job and shortly after, fellow coaches like Greg Sparling expressed interest in helping Ravet out if he took the position.  

Coaching is a passion for Ravet; the itch for it was not going away, he said. After speaking with his daughter and assessing his commute from Ellensburg, he decided to take the gig. He said his coaching staff was an important factor in taking the job. To have a solid program, it’s important to have the right coaching team, he said.  

“I've coached for a long time, so it was more just the opportunity was there, and I just had to get my mind right on making sure there was a good staff that would come with me. It's one thing to coach kids, but you got to have a good staff too, in order for the whole program to be solid,” Ravet said.  

Sparling brings an extensive career of coaching at the college level, including with Central Washington from 1994 to 2016. By the end of his tenure there, he finished as the third winningest coach in Wildcats men's basketball history. Ravet also brings Landon Kaut, who is early in his coaching career but has a good mind for it and passion to do it long term, Ravet said.  

The new-to-Royal coach is eager to carry on the winning culture that Greg Jenks built during his tenure. He knows a lot of the returning players have good experience that will benefit them this upcoming season. His goal is to shape this roster into having more role players than positionless players, he said.  

“We got to have a lockdown defender, we got to have a point guard, we got to have some people rebound, we got to have some shooters. We got to figure out those roles and try to play them to our strengths,” he said.  

As they look ahead to their first game Dec. 13 against Connell, Ravet said community members can expect a fun season of boys basketball.  

“I think we're going to play a good style of fun basketball to watch and play at a tempo that's exciting for the fans and the community, and I'm excited to be part of the community, because I know they support their sports, and I think that we can put on a pretty good show,” Ravet said. 

    Manny Ravalcaba (23) drives for the basket in the 1A state tournament game. The Knights went 27-3 last season.
  

    Grant Wardenaar goes up for the shot against Zillah at the 1A state tournament last season. Head Coach Tim Ravet said he is high on Wardenaar this upcoming season.
  

    Forward Jackson Larsen (21) puts up a shot against Zillah at the 1A state tournament last season.