Still glum from the heartbreaking King County playoff basketball game that went into three overtimes before Newport defeated the Ballard High School boys team, head coach William "Billy" Rodgers is already looking at next season.

"We'll be pretty high next year and on paper we should be good," he said. “It’s nice to see the expectations set high."

Rodgers, once a Beaver basketball player himself, has been the head coach at Ballard for seven seasons. It's one of the many hats he wears.

In addition to being the head basketball coach at BHS, Rodgers is also the Athletic Director of the Ballard Boys and Girls Club, a member of the Ballard Rotary Club, and a member of the Ballard High School Foundation.

"I like to dabble in many things," he said. "I've never been someone who could do just one thing."

His involvements have two common denominators, however; sports and Ballard.

Originally from Washington D.C., Rodgers' father taught law at Georgetown University and the University of Washington, so the family split their time between both cities before settling in Ballard when Rodger's father began teaching at UW full-time.

A prep school student all through middle school, Ballard High School was Rodgers' first public school experience.

"I vividly remember the first day walking into the building as a freshman -- the old building -- and I was overwhelmed by the size, the diversity, and the seniors, they looked like thirty-year-olds to me!" Rodgers said. "I'm glad I did [go to a public school]. You get to see how life really works as you're trying to find your niche. I learned a lot socially."

Rodgers caught on quick enough and went from just trying to survive to becoming student body president his senior year.

"I loved high school," he said.

Rodgers wasn't the only one in his family who found his niche at Ballard High School. His mother, Janet, got involved in the school as well and played a significant role in starting alumni organizations to pump dollars into the school.

As a founder of the Beaver Bash and director of the Ballard High School Foundation, she built a team of dedicated community members and alumni to work on countless projects benefitting the school and its students.

"When I came to the school there were no alumni organizations or booster clubs," Rodgers said. "My mom saw how run down the school was and was instrumental in starting some of the alumni groups which have helped elevate the school to one of the best in Seattle."

Following high school graduation, Rodgers hopped from college to college, attending various local colleges before getting his sociology and criminal justice degrees from the UW.

"I didn't have a real focus on what I wanted to do," he said, not realizing at the time that he had been doing what he was meant to do all along -- coaching.

"It's kind of funny," he said. "I guess there's always been a tie with sports in I've done."

Rodgers started working for the Seattle Mariners as a young boy, handing out give-aways at the gate. He stayed with the Mariners for 17 years.

From customer service to public relations and ballpark operations, Rodgers held a variety of jobs at the Kingdome.

From the Mariners, he moved on to professional basketball doing Community Outreach for both the Seattle Sonics and Seattle Storm.

When the Sonics left Seattle, Rodgers moved on as well, going back to where it all starts - youth sports.

"Pro sports are great. It has a role in society," Rodgers said. "But I really enjoy the prep aspects and introducing kids to sports and them find their niche."

"We're not necessarily creating a pro athlete [at the Ballard Boys & Girls] but we help them find their interests and give them a great experience," he added. "It's a key role in their development and who knows? Eventually I may get to coach these kids at the high school."

Coaching, Rodgers said, was something he got into by accident. It has always been a side job.

"I filled in for a buddy one day and from there I did some coaching for local teams. After I graduated (from BHS) I coached at BHS for four years as a volunteer Freshman and JV coach," Rodgers said. "When I didn't get the job of head coach when it became available I was devastated. But it also inspired me to broaden my horizons a bit."

Rodgers was hired as the head basketball coach at North Seattle Community College and led the team to three NWAACC playoffs in the seven years he was there.

"I learned a lot there and when I left I got to give the position to a former player of mine, Kyle Gray, who also coaches Softball at Ballard High School," Rodgers said.

Rodgers also coached at University Prep, where he had attended middle school, before returning to BHS when he finally got the head coach position he had wanted all along.

"[BHS] is a great place to go to school but also a great place to go to coach," he said. "We put a lot of time in the program to make it really good and it's rewarding when you have a season like last year [the 2010-2011 season] and you make the State Championships."

Rodgers said the basketball program has come a long way making it to the KingCo playoffs four years in a row.

"I do get competitive as a coach and I want all my assistant coaches and kids to be competitive but still unified. We want to be known as competitive but first and foremost as a family that looks out of each other," Rodgers said. "The ultimate goal of course is to bring home the state title but along the way there are many smaller victories like a 3.2 team GPA. I just want kids to leave the program with the ability to look back and say that they had fun playing with their buddies but also learned about hard work."

It seems as though everything has come full circle for Rodgers; he holds the Athletic Director position at the club where he once learned how to play basketball, and coaches at the school he once proudly attended.

"It was really fun to be able to come back to where I started," he said. “Everything is here [in. I'm entrenched and married to a former Roosevelt girl, which is kind of funny. I'm very, very, very happy."