The final buzzer sounded off and the Poway gym erupted. The year was 2008 and Jay Trousdale and the Poway Titans defeated one of the best Escondido teams in the semifinals by a small margin in overtime. The current tight end of the then San Diego Chargers came up to Trousdale after watching the game, and said that it was one of the best sporting events he had been to.

Trousdale, who is retiring from coaching this year, had a legendary 35 year career at Poway High School. Coaching girls’ basketball, Trousdale had an astounding 35 winning seasons, one for every year he coached. His teams won four CIF championships, and achieved 12 league titles. 

“My best record was in 1992 when we went 27-4,” Trousdale said. “Two of our four losses were to the top team in the nation. We finished ranked 7th in the state.”

Trousdale also recalls a fantastic series of games. In 2002 and 2003, the Titans under Trousdale upset the San Diego High School two years in a row. What makes this even more impressive is that the San Diego team had the best player in the nation, Charde Houston, who went on to play at UCONN and in the WNBA. Many college coaches and scouts saw Trousdale lead his team to a win in back to back years against her.

Trousdale also had his own fantastic players. “I didn’t have any players go play pro, but I had a number of players go to college and play basketball there,” Trousdale said. One notable player he coached was Jamie Shadian. Graduating in 1993, Shadian went on to play at the University of San Francisco. She led her team to the Sweet 16, and had her jersey retired for the team. Her jersey is up in the rafters with another USF legend Bill Russell.

After such an incredible and influential career, Trousdale retires, and leaves his legacy at Poway High.

“My body and mind felt like it was time for me to retire. I would walk into coaches meetings seeing the other coaches getting younger every year. I feel 100% good about this decision,” Trousdale said.