Ken Bone completed his fourth season as Head Coach of the Portland State Vikings and has already made his mark as one of the school’s greatest basketball coaches.

For the second year in a row, Bone led the Vikings to a 23-10 record. It marks the two best seasons in the 48-year history of the program. With 65 wins the past three years, the Vikings are also in the midst of the best three-year win total in school history.

With a 77-49 record, Bone has the most wins and best winning percentage of any PSU coach since basketball was reinstated in 1996-97. In 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, he has a 335-167 record.

Bone led Portland State to its finest season in school history in 2007-08, as PSU had a school-record 23 wins, winning the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles, and making a first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Portland State’s 23-10 record and 14-2 Big Sky mark were the best ever in the history of the program. The Vikings concluded the season with 14 straight wins over Big Sky opponents. As a result, Bone earned Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year honors - becoming the first Viking basketball coach ever to do so.

When the Viking program joined the March Madness fray for the first time last season, Bone had finally brought it to the national stage. The Vikings took a first-round loss to eventual national champion Kansas, but a standard had been set for Portland State basketball that had not been achieved before.

The accomplishments of the Viking program under Bone in 2007-08 were remarkable:
    • A school-record total of wins (23) and Big Sky wins (14).
    • A school-record tying nine-game winning streak at the Division I level.
    • A 14-game Big Sky Conference winning streak.
    • Portland State set or tied 17 school records.
    • The Vikings featured the Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year (Jeremiah Dominguez), the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year (Scott Morrison), and a first team All-Big Sky selection (Deonte Huff).
    • Bone became the first Viking coach to be named Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year.
    • Bone reached 300 career wins during the season.

In 2008-09, Portland State achieved more:
    • PSU matched the school record for wins (23) and achieved its best seeding in the NCAA Tournament (13).
    • The Vikings picked up a first-ever win over a nationally-ranked team (77-70 at #7 Gonzaga).
    • The Vikings had three All-Conference guards: Jeremiah Dominguez (1st team), Andre Murray (2nd team) and Dominic Waters (2nd team).    
    • PSU tied or established 13 more school records.

The talented roster that Bone has constructed at Portland State should come as no surprise. Bone’s recruiting ability in the Pacific Northwest, along the west coast, and now around the country, is evidenced on his roster and the results he has gotten on the floor in his short tenure at Portland State.

A veteran coach, Bone knew a lot about building and working with successful basketball programs before arrive on the Park Blocks. He spent the 2002-05 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Washington, playing a major role as that program returned to national prominence.

In 2005, Bone helped direct Washington to the Pac-10 title as the Huskies earned a number-one seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. The previous year, Washington had a runner-up finish in the Pac-10 regular-season standings. The Huskies advanced to the championship game of the Pac-10 Tournament and competed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. UW swept all three meetings with highly-ranked Arizona and capped the regular season with a win over No. 1 and undefeated Stanford.

Bone’s time at Washington was preceded by a remarkable 12-year stint as head coach across town at Seattle Pacific University. He registered a 253-97 (.723) record with the Falcons between 1990-2002. Bone’s SPU teams claimed six outright or shared Pacific West Conference championships and earned eight NCAA playoff appearances.

The Falcons made five trips to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16 over a span of eight years, including a semifinal appearance in 2000 that capped a 27-5 season. In 2000, Bone was recognized as both NABC District 8 Coach of the Year and PacWest Conference Co-Coach of the Year.

During Bone’s final season at Seattle Pacific, the Falcons posted a 24-5 record, advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs and were ranked ninth in the final 2002 poll.

Those experiences have translated well for Bone as he has moved to another major metropolitan area school. When it came time to hire a coach for Portland State University, Bone stood out among potential candidates.

“It’s exciting to coach at the Division I level at a program like Portland State,” said Bone. “I really think this is a great fit for myself and my family. It will be a great place for us to live and raise our kids.

Needless to say, Bone’s longevity and success in the northwest lends itself to a strong reputation as a coach and recruiter. He believes the area from Portland north through Seattle to Vancouver, BC is an outstanding corridor of talented student-athletes.

Living up to his assessment, Bone has brought in seven players who compete in the I-5 corridor between Salem, OR and Vancouver, BC in his three seasons.

“There is so much talent in the northwest,” he said. “I really think you can win if you do your homework.”

Bone is the 11th Head Coach in Portland State basketball history. He is the fourth coach since PSU reinstated basketball for the 1996-97 season. He follows Ritchie McKay (1996-98), Joel Sobotka (1998-2002) and Heath Schroyer (2002-05).

BACKGROUND
Prior to his tenure at Seattle Pacific, Bone had two collegiate head coaching jobs. He coached the 1984-85 season at Cal State Stanislaus and directed the Olympic Community College program in Bremerton, WA during 1985-86. Bone served four years as an assistant at SPU under Claude Terry from 1986-90 before taking over head coaching duties beginning with the 1990-91 campaign.

The first alum to run the program, Bone graduated from Seattle Pacific in 1983 and received his master’s in athletic administration in 1993. He played two seasons (1980-82) at SPU after one-year stints at Shoreline and Edmonds (WA) Community Colleges. He is a Shorecrest (WA) High School graduate.

A Seattle native, Bone comes from a prominent Northwest basketball family. His father, Walt Bone, was a longtime prep coach in Seattle at Queen Anne High School and later Nathan Hale High. His older brother, Len Bone, is currently the head boy’s coach at Snohomish (WA) High School.

Ken and his wife Connie have three daughters, Kendra (16), Jenae (14) and Chelsea (10).

THE KEN BONE FILE
4th year at Portland State: 77-49
17-year Coaching Record: 335-167

BA, Seattle Pacific, 1983
MA, Athletic Administration, 1993

Family: wife Connie, daughters Kendra (16), Jenae (14) and Chelsea (10)

Birthdate: May 21, 1958
Hired at PSU: April 25, 2005

2005-2009 Head Coach, Portland State University (77-49, 2008 and 2009 Big Sky Conference Champions, four Big Sky Conference Tournament appearances, two NCAA Tournament appearances)

Year W-L Conf. Place Postseason
2005-06 12-16 5-9 5th-T Big Sky Tournament Quarterfinals  
2006-07 19-13 9-7 4th Big Sky Tournament Semifinals
2007-08 23-10 14-2 1st Big Sky Conference Champions, NCAA Tournament first round, Big Sky Coach of the Year
2008-09 23-10 11-5 2nd-T NCAA Tournament, Big Sky Conference Tournament Champions

2002-2005 Assistant Coach, University of Washington (58-35, two NCAA tournament appearances)
1990-2002 Head Coach, Seattle Pacific University (253-97, six conference titles, eight NCAA II tourney appearances)

Year W-L Conf. Place Postseason
1990-91 17-10 5-3 1st-T
1991-92 23-8 7-3 1st-T
1992-93 21-9 7-3 3rd-T
1993-94 18-10 6-6 3rd-T NCAA 1st round
1994-95 20-9 9-3 1st NCAA 3rd round
1995-96 23-6 9-3 1st-T NCAA 3rd round
1996-97 18-9 6-6 3rd-T
1997-98 18-12 7-5 2nd-T NCAA 3rd round
1998-99 23-8 12-6 3rd-T NCAA 3rd round
1999-00 27-5 12-2 1st NCAA semifinal, NCAA District 8 Coach of the Year PacWest Coach of the Year
2000-01 21-6 14-4 2nd NCAA 1st round
2001-02 24-5 15-3 1st-T NCAA 2nd round

1986-1990 Assistant Coach, Seattle Pacific University
1985-1986 Head Coach, Olympic Junior College
1984-1985 Head Coach, Cal State Stanislaus (5-21)
1983-1984 Assistant Coach, Cal State Stanislaus
1982-1983 Assistant Coach, Shorecrest (WA) High School