THE FRONT ROW WITH MARK NELKE: Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016

Coaches’ kids often follow in the coach’s footsteps.

But when that coach’s kid is also the team’s star player?

Scott Stockwell was a high-scoring guard on the Post Falls High boys basketball team from 2001-05.

He went on to play at North Idaho College, and eventually at NAIA Carroll College in Helena, Mont.

The last five years, he worked as an assistant coach at 4A Lakeland High under his dad, Dave.

Dave Stockwell was also his coach at Post Falls.

This year, the younger Stockwell begins his first head-coaching gig, guiding the 5A Coeur d’Alene High girls basketball program.

IT WASN’T a slam dunk, or in Scott’s case, a long 3-pointer, that son would eventually follow in dad’s footsteps.

“I didn’t know,” Scott Stockwell said. “I just had a love for the game. I understood it. Being a coach’s kid, it definitely does help to have that on my side.

“But I wasn’t sure I knew if I wanted to go into coaching,” Scott said. “I did it with my dad (as an assistant at Lakeland), and decided I wanted to do it.”

Scott said one thing he learned from his dad which he hoped will help him in his coaching is “probably patience.”

Which is interesting, since Dave has been known to show more than just a little emotion on the sideline during a game.

“I joke with him all the time about that,” Scott said.

But it’s true.

“I learned from him to understand the process, that it’s a long season,” Scott said. “You want to be peaking at the right time.”

WHEN SCOTT Stockwell starred at Post Falls, Marc Allert was an assistant coach for the Trojan boys.

“Oh yeah,” Allert said, when asked if he could see a future coach in Stockwell when he coached him in high school. “You could see that he was already really smart. He understood the game. When your dad’s your coach, you could see that coming.”

Allert thought about it a minute.

He also coached against current Lake City girls basketball coach Bryan Kelly when Kelly played at Lake City in the mid 1990s. He also coached with Kelly for a few seasons on the Post Falls boys basketball staff.

Now he’s coaching against Stockwell, meaning two-thirds of the coaches he’s going up against in the 5A Inland Empire League, he has either coached with before, or coached when they were playing in high school.

“It’s making me feel like an old man,” Allert said.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.