THURSTON – Eric Orton has been promoted to head boys basketball coach at his alma mater.
Orton, who starred for Thurston as a senior in 2002 when the Colts won the Midwestern League title and reached the state quarterfinals, has spent the past two seasons as an assistant under Blaine Liberatore after previously serving as head coach at four other area schools.
“The biggest thing for me is that this is where my kids will go to school, we live in the area, we are part of the Thurston community, and I am an alum, so this is a good fit,” Orton said. “When I was younger, I applied for jobs around the state and had a couple of opportunities that I didn’t take. We are in a situation now where we do not want to move. I am not a 24-year-old looking for the next big thing; this is a great opportunity at a great school.”
Orton and his wife, Hayley, have a 12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son, whom he has coached over the past few years. He helped start the Thurston Youth Athletics basketball program, which had five boys’ teams and two girls’ teams last year and will likely grow in the future.
“It is a dream come true to go coach where I played, and I had a great experience here as a coach and player, so I want to give these kids the same experience,” said Orton, who played college basketball at Walla Walla Community College and Western Oregon before graduating from Eastern Oregon.
The Colts have won three straight Midwestern League titles for the first time since 1965-67, compiling a 33-3 league record during that span. Liberatore, who coached Thurston to 167 wins, including a state title in 2018 during his 12 years as coach, stepped down after last season to shed some of the duties that come with being a head coach and spend more time with his family.
Orion’s promotion will provide continuity for the program, as Liberatore will likely remain on staff as an assistant, along with Doug Piquette, Orton’s brother-in-law, who was head coach at Thurston from 1998 to 2014 before returning as an assistant over the past few years.
“I tried to tell Blaine that if he wanted to coach about eight more years until my son gets through high school, that would be great, and I would be his assistant, but it was best for him and his family to take a step back,” Orton said. “Doug has coached some of these kids since kindergarten, and he’s as Thurston as Thurston can be, so I certainly want him on my staff.”
Orton, who is a P.E. teacher at Sheldon High School, got his first head coaching job at Marist and spent two years there before coaching one season at North Eugene. He was the head coach at Springfield for eight seasons and Sheldon for five before returning to his alma mater.
“Thurston has been in good hands since 1998 when Doug took over during my freshman year, and he set a standard for toughness and defending people and a culture of outworking our opponents,” Orton said.
“He did that for a long time, and Blaine had the same mantra. We all came from the same background and have similar ideas, but we are all a little different, so you may see us do a few things different than Thurston did in the past, but the culture will not change,” he said.
