He's qualified because: Repeat Bee Coach of the Year and three-time winner overall led Bullpups to 25-5 record, a fifth straight Central Section championship and seventh consecutive West Yosemite League title. Extending section-record streak of 97 straight wins against section competition, they crushed league champs Ridgeview (South Yosemite) 68-49, Clovis West (Tri-River Athletic) 56-15, Edison (County/Metro Athletic) 64-47 and Stockdale (Southwest Yosemite) 65-49. And they had Long Beach Poly -- which finished third-ranked in state -- beat on the road with 2 minutes to go before losing 56-49 in the Southern California Regional quarterfinals.

Questions post-Madison: While established talent returned in Bayli McClard, Brooke Johnson and Kayla Luis, Hanford took the court for the first time in five seasons without Parrish's daughter, point guard Madison, who went 104-22 in her career, including 75-0 in the section.

Hence, uncertainty.

"If you asked me last summer, I thought we could be a really good team and win the Valley, but I wasn't sure it was going to happen," Tom Parrish says. "We didn't know where we were going to be. We had new leaders, and the beginning was rough. But they continued to work hard, jelled and were always getting better. There was always that upswing, and that's encouraging for a coach."

Numbers adding up: Parrish is 174-42 (.806) in seven seasons, including 72 straight in WYL -- remarkable numbers for ranch foreman and self-taught coach who had no vision of it coming to this when he began helping with Hanford's youth program 15 years ago.

"Even though we've been successful," he says, "I didn't get into this to break records and win Valleys; it just happened to happen. That stuff is neat, but it's not important to me. I got into it to help kids get into college."

Madison Parrish just completed her freshman season at Fresno State. McClard, a junior, and the sophomore Johnson are promising college players. Coaching retirement is tugging at Tom Parrish, but he's committed to at least one more year.