One more shot

Pacific grad student, and former St. Helens High grad, gets a second chance to re-write the Boxers’ record book

By Nick Lilja

The South County Spotlight, Feb 24, 2010

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St. Helens’ Ross Bartlett is not an oppressive force on the basketball court. He glides through the game, doesn’t overpower it. He plays basketball the same way he lives life — with desire, direction and determination.

He rarely misses a defensive assignment. Or a rebound.

So it was business as usual for Bartlett when, on Jan. 26 against George Fox, he pulled down the errant shot that sent him to the top of Pacific’s all-time list, breaking Dan French’s 56-year-old record of 688 career rebounds.

“It’s nice to have something that represents a culmination of efforts from my career,” Bartlett said last Thursday. “As a freshman, I never set out to break the record. But this year I realized I could do it, so it was one of my personal goals.”

Breaking the record was a long time coming for Bartlett, who enrolled at Pacific in 2005 and has endured two knee injuries, one of which forced him to miss the entire 2007-08 season. But those detours also got him to where he is today.

After missing his junior season, Bartlett returned to the court last winter and started 18 games, averaging about 13 points and seven rebounds per night. For many players, it would have been a great way to cap a career, but Bartlett wasn’t done yet.

The 23-year-old returned for a fifth season, enrolling in graduate classes at Pacific so he could use his last year of eligibility with the Boxers.

And what a year it has been.

Bartlett lives with purpose. He sets goals, then achieves them. There is no beating around the bush or side-stepping. When the 6-foot-6 psychology grad student shakes your hand, he does it on time. He’s as scheduled as a sunrise.

Unless traffic is involved.

“I was in traffic today [on my way to Pacific] for an hour and 20 minutes,” Bartlett says with a smile.

A smile? Most people hate spending 15 minutes in traffic. But Bartlett uses it as his time to escape. Zone out. Listen to rock and roll.

Bartlett spends about an hour and a half a day in his “beat-up and old” Honda Civic, commuting to Forest Grove from Wilsonville, where he lives with his girlfriend, Amanda. It’s during the commute each day that he enjoys his “me time” — which is good because there isn’t much time left for him otherwise.

“I like to think I have a pretty good ability to step back from a situation and look at the big picture,” Bartlett said. “It is hectic and chaotic, but when else in my life am I going to be able to have these experiences? I see that as an opportunity.

“And I must really, really enjoy school because I’m paying a lot of money [to do] this.”

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