Player, coach, retiree after 40 years of being on the court, field, driving range

This archived article was written by: Katie Felice

Dave Paur had a goal to coach for 40 years. He says, “The odds of most coaches going that far are maybe 1 in 10,000.” This year Paur accomplishes his goal, as it marks a total of 40 years coaching and 26 of those years spent at USU Eastern. After a legacy of coaching and athletic experience behind him, Paur is now preparing to retire May 15.
Himself was a former USU Eastern (CEU) basketball player when he was in college, Paur went on to Southern Utah University for his bachelor’s degree and the University of Utah to obtain his master’s degree.
Paur started his coaching career at North Layton Jr. High and went on to coach at many other schools such as Chowchilla High School in California, East Carbon High School, Kings River Community College and of course USU Eastern. At Chowchilla he was the head baseball coach, assistant football coach, athletic director and drivers education teacher. At Kings River Community College, he was the head men’s basketball coach and assistant track coach.
In the fall of 1989, Paur began his career at USU Eastern. He was the head baseball coach for eight years and is currently the BDAC athletic director and women’s basketball coach. He has lead the women’s basketball team for 26 years and says what he will miss most about his job is the all the players he has coached along the way.
One of Paur’s greatest acknowledgments was in 2007, when he was inducted into the coaching hall of fame at Southern Utah University.
One of Paur’s most unforgettable moments was this year when the women’s basketball team swept North Idaho and CSI on the road with a score of 93-92 with a last minute game winning shot.
Paur says the most rewarding part about coaching is, “building a relationship with the players. If you want to last that long and win all the time, you better love your players.” Even though years have passed since his first coaching jobs, he still keeps in contact with many of the players he coached from previous schools.
Chelsey Warburton is now set to take over Paur’s position as the new women’s basketball coach. Warburton, a former player for Paur at USUE, played for a year at Eastern, three years at Weber State and her senior year held the nation in three-point shooting. Warburton also played one year of professional basketball in Amsterdam.
If Paur had any advice to give Warburton on coaching, it would be, “Be yourself. Don’t try to copy other coaches. Sit down and think about what you like to do as a player, what kind of defenses you want to run and what you are comfortable with offensively, what kind of players you like. Don’t imitate someone else.”
As far as the future of USU Eastern is concerned, Paur would like to see the school put more money into scholarships and recruiting. 
After retirement, Paur plans to continue his life in Price with his wife. He plans to take a couple of months off and later go on a trip with his wife and granddaughter back to Tennessee, through Missouri, Illinois and Ohio to site seeing. His traveling goals would be to revisit Israel and Brazil again one day.
Paur leaves behind a long legacy of coaching and a lasting impact on the players and athletics at USU Eastern. His last words of wisdom are, “the most important thing you can do in this life is help others.”