Spencer Long sinks putts, then jumpshots

But he doesn’t want to anyway.

“After a while you get used to it,” Spencer said. “He doesn’t treat me special. He treats me like any other player. That’s how it should be.”

Said David Long: “Even though it’s four years of playing for me, he’s been a ball boy since he was 6. It’s been great having him there.”

High school basketball is a more popular high school sport than golf. So it is easy to remember Long’s 3-pointers, his post moves, his touch around the hoop. It is easy to recall seeing his name on The Columbian’s All-Region boys basketball team.

And at this stage of his life, basketball is Long’s top sports priority.

“I played maybe five rounds of golf this summer,” Long said. “In the winter, maybe I played one round.”

Columbia River basketball. Summer ball. That takes up most of his calendar.

But come fall, Long plays golf. In the spring, for the state tournament, Long plays golf.

“I’m kind of lucky. It doesn’t take me a long time to get back into things,” he said.

Pick up clubs. Hit a good drive. Strong approach. Putt. Repeat.

“I played a lot when I was younger,” Long said. “I got to the point where I was good enough and I just steadied off, just because I was working on other stuff, like basketball. But I got good enough at golf to still make an impact.”

His freshman year, he shot the round of his life in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament. He would finish fifth that season. He made the cut in his next two appearances at state, as well.

This fall, he is hoping for more success, individually and as a team. Then in the spring, with the Chieftains now a Class 2A program, he wants to compete for a team title.

“If all of us play well on the same day, we’d have a good shot at it,” he said.

In golf, scores pretty much dictate a spot on the team. In basketball, playing time is more subjective. It’s up to the coach. Perhaps one player is better with scoring, while another is better at defense. Who plays? Who sits? Up to the coach. Spencer Long made varsity basketball as a freshman.

“My dad deals with that stuff. He doesn’t really care what people say. If people don’t agree with him, he ignores it and goes with what he thinks is best.”

Spencer said he did not have a tough time that freshman basketball season, being the son of the coach.

“Personally, I think I deserved the spot,” Spencer said. “And I know for a fact he wouldn’t put me on varsity if I didn’t deserve it.”

Spencer said he likes having his coach so close every day.

“There are certain things I can talk to him about, things I’m struggling with. If I need to make an improvement, he can teach me. And not just at practice. He can do it outside of practice. You have an extra connection with your coach because he’s your dad,” Spencer said.

David Long is used to having Spencer at his practices.

“It’s his fourth year of varsity golf and it’s going to be his fourth year of varsity basketball. But it’s more like his 12th year of varsity,” David Long said. “He’s been on all our road trips. He grew up in a gym. He grew up on a golf course.”

Spencer also wants people to know that his dad is nothing like the intense guy fans see when David is coaching a basketball game.

“He knows people are going to have a bad round or a bad game. It happens. He understands that,” Spencer said. “People see him on the court and think he’s mean. He’s the complete opposite.”

For now, Spencer is trying to enjoy this final year of high school. The fall golf season is short.

Soon enough, it will be basketball season. Long will put away his spikes for basketball shoes. Golf will be put aside until the state tournament in the spring.

His future plans remain up in the air.

“If I have to make a decision it would be tough,” he said, referring to college basketball or college golf.

Consider this, though: If Spencer Long picks golf, his game could soar to great heights. After all, it would be the first time he worked on his game for more than a couple months a year.