Once again, Pirate Athletics is dipping into its alumni pool to find its next coach.
Bryce Jacobson, of Sacramento, California, will be Peninsula College’s new men’s basketball coach. Jacobson, who won a Northwest Athletic Championship playing for the Pirates in 2011, will take over the position vacated by Donald Rollman, who recently took an assistant coaching job at Seattle Pacific University.
"I'm extremely excited to be coming back to Port Angeles and Peninsula College,” Jacobson said. “This is a place that has held a special place in my heart these past 12 years since I graduated and moved away. The things that have stuck with me about PC are the wonderful people working throughout the college and the amazing community support for all four sports teams. Not many community college athletics programs have the support that Peninsula does, which speaks volumes about the love for athletics and the special culture of the Port Angeles community.”
Jacobson, a Palmer Alaska high school basketball star, comes to Peninsula College from William Jessup University where he coached alongside former Pirate head coach Lance Von Vogt for the last three seasons. Prior to that, he was a student assistant at the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2018. He also spent four years on the coaching staff at Palmer High School.
“It’s a great day for Pirate basketball with another former player coming ‘home’ to take the reins,” said Associate Dean for Athletics Rick Ross. Head Women’s Basketball Coach Alison Crumb and Associate Head Coach Gabi Fenumiai, Men’s Soccer Coach Jake Hughes, Assistant Athletic Director Jeremiah Johnson, and Ross were all students at Peninsula College.
“Bryce didn’t land the job because he was family, though,” Ross said. “He landed the job because he worked hard at Jessup to prepare for a career as a college head basketball coach and he killed the interview. We had a very strong pool of about 30 applicants from all over the country and Bryce earned this opportunity. He’s going to outwork people. He’s a high-character guy and our community is going to love him.”
At William Jessup University, the Warriors put together a program-best 30 wins and a trip to the NAIA Quarterfinal in 2021-22 and followed that up with another playoff run last year, the final year of Von Vogt’s term of coaching, as he stepped down to move into the role of Vice President of Athletics.
Jacobson will bring a history of success as a coach and a player to Peninsula College. He was recruited to Peninsula by head coach Peter Stewart, who left at the end of the 2009-10 season after a stellar coaching career. Von Vogt inherited Jacobson, and a handful of returners including Jeremiah Johnson, and brought in a talented cast of freshmen. That team went on to win the NWAC championship in 2010-11, the first for PC men’s basketball since 1970.
“Bryce was a big part of that championship team,” Ross said. “If you were on the other team, you wouldn’t want Bryce guarding you. He was relentless.”
Jacobson, a team captain along with Johnson, went down with an injury that season, but his sideline leadership in the finals helped that team jell and bring home the trophy, Ross said. The 2010-11 PC men were inducted into the Pirate Athletics Hall of Fame just over a month ago. Jacobson is very aware of the history of Pirate basketball and said he’s looking forward to being a part of that.
“My predecessors with Peninsula men's basketball, including most recently Donald Rollman, have done such an amazing job and I'm grateful for the opportunity to lead the program moving forward," he said.
The Pirates had a sophomore-heavy team in 2022-23, reaching the tournament for the fourth straight year under Rollman, so Jacobson will face a recruiting challenge this summer to get back to the playoffs in one of the strongest divisions in the NWAC, the North Region.
“He’s got some great players back to build a team around,” Ross said. “just not as many as we’d like. Bryce will be burning up his Rolodex, but the new NCAA transfer portal has slowed the recruiting process a bit. There are still lots of good players to be found. We’ll also be reaching out to all our contacts to help him with that effort. Look for Pirate basketball to continue to represent Peninsula College well in the future.”