For Rob Hoyt, head basketball coach of the Columbia Claim Jumpers, there is no offseason. Hoyt, a 2003 Sonora High graduate and 2008 Fresno State graduate, was given a full-time position at Columbia College this season. When he was hired in 2013, at age 28, Hoyt was the youngest coach in California. He took over a program that wasn't competitive and didn't have the positive reputation it had when Columbia won a state championship in 1993. "When I got the job, I looked at the program as a bus," Hoyt said. “I'm hopping on the bus. The program and school already exist and there is a recent history of not having a successful basketball program. How can I change it for the better and make it mine? The first thing is to get rid of all the people you don't want on the bus, and that's what I did. Then I thought of it as a scorched earth theory, where everything that pre-exists is burned. We have new jerseys, new players and everything else is dead. We brought in new freshmen, and those freshmen were going to be the foundation of what was going to happen down the road. "It's been a long time since Columbia had a respectable program. However, Hoyt believes the program is headed in the right direction and will continue to bring in the players needed to be successful. "Everyone wants this thing to be successful and they are waiting for something to happen for so long." time," Hoyt said. “For a long time Columbia basketball was more of an afterthought. Now it's more like, I can't wait for winter to come, we can go to some games. It will be like this this year with the guys we bring here." Hoyt spends most of his offseason on the phone. Constantly calling, texting, or looking at the intern... middle of the paper... any other way you're doing it wrong." Even when a recruit is undecided about whether to attend Columbia College, Hoyt sticks to his beliefs and doesn't try to sell the school to a player. “I'm just not willing to sell the school,” Hoyt said. “I'm not going to get anyone to play basketball for me. It has to be a marriage I'll let them know why it's a great place for them and why it may or may not be a good decision for them. But ultimately, I want them to make the best decision for themselves, because it's a huge decision moving forward they will be cared for while they are here not only by me, but also by the community. It will be difficult at times, but they will succeed.”