Beyond the Scoreboard: The Enduring Legacy of Pete Mathiesen at College of the Redwoods

Published on Dec 10 2025

When Kathi Mathiesen answers the phone, her voice carries the steady warmth of a woman who spent nearly 63 years beside a man whose life burned bright with purpose. Memories come easily to her—some joyful, some bittersweet, all rooted in deep admiration. She speaks of Pete not as a legend or a coach, but as the center of her world: a husband who encouraged her dreams, a father who built adventure into daily life, and a mentor who shaped generations far beyond his own family.

“He let me grow,” she says. “That’s the first thing I think of.”

And it is the truest beginning to the story of a man whose greatest legacy was never measured in wins, banners, or titles, although he earned plenty of each, but in the lives he touched.

Pete Mathiesen’s journey began in Marysville, where he showed early promise not only in athletics but in leadership and communication, placing third nationally in high school speech and debate. He carried that drive to Humboldt State, where he met Kathi, then still in high school. They married in 1958, just before he finished his degree. Pete pursued higher education with the same determination he brought to coaching, later earning a master’s from San Jose State and a doctorate from the University of Sarasota.

It was during the mid-1960s, after a stint teaching and coaching in San Jose and a brief stop at South Fork High School during the devastating ’64 flood, that Pete stepped into a defining chapter, launching the very first men’s basketball program at College of the Redwoods. CR was still being built when the Mathiesen’s arrived. “We watched the campus go up,” Kathi says. “We were there from the very beginning.” Faculty families were close then, raising children together, planting daffodils on the hill, flying kites near the administration building, and creating the kind of community colleges rarely seen today.

On this new campus, Pete became not only the inaugural head coach but also the Dean of Men, shaping culture as much as athletics. Over four seasons, he led the fledgling program to 49 wins and multiple Golden Valley Conference championships. He recruited homegrown talent from Hoopa, St. Bernard’s, Fortuna, and Eureka, firmly believing the best players were often the ones right here on the North Coast.

His son Marty remembers those early years vividly, growing up in Redway and Eureka, piling onto the yellow bus with the team, rattling through mountain roads to places like Susanville or Yuba on vinyl seats with no heat. “It was the best time of my life,” he says. To him, CR wasn't just his dad’s job, it was adventure, family, and belonging.

Pete’s coaching philosophy was firm but fair, rooted in honesty and integrity. “He’d sit the best player if that kid wasn’t showing good character,” Marty says. “He didn’t care about winning at the expense of honesty. Everyone knew the truth the first time. If you danced around it, you lost credibility.”

That clarity of values shaped countless young men, and Pete never let go of them, not even decades after they left his program. He called former players every month, up until the very month he passed, checking in.

Among those he kept closest were Mike Bettiga, Jim Reynolds, Tom Herrera, Mark Johnson, and Tony Lopez. Bettiga, a CR Hall of Famer from the 1969–70 season, said of him, “Pete approached life at one hundred percent. Everything he did was done to the best of his ability. Nothing was done halfway. Be it his coaching, teachings, family or friends. He was concerned with all of them on the same level. He knew many people and stayed in touch with them. He would call me once a month just to see how I was doing. He was a good friend.” For 52 years, Mike and Pete talked once a month. Their conversations ranged from family and work to the latest play Pete had come up with, and, of course, basketball was always part of the discussion. What began as a coach-and-player relationship grew into a lifelong friendship.

After leaving College of the Redwoods with four seasons under his belt, multiple Golden Valley Conference championships and 49 wins, Pete’s career reached global heights. Over 17 seasons at Chico State, he amassed 243 wins, secured five conference titles, earned four coach-of-the-year honors, sent teams to NCAA Division II regional playoffs twice, and landed among the top 30 coaches in Division II history for career victories. His expertise was sought internationally, conducting clinics in Thailand, Panama, Malaysia, and Ireland; coaching the Cyprus Olympic team; working with Australia’s Geelong Cats; and contributing to the Sacramento Kings NBA Summer League program.

And yet, even with such far-reaching accomplishments, Pete remained grounded in the values he and Kathi had built in those early CR years. He believed basketball was a vehicle for teaching life. He taught players how to navigate airports, how to order at a restaurant, how to choose a fork, how to look someone in the eye with confidence. “Some of these young men had never flown before,” Kathi says. “He gave them independence. He taught them responsibility. He prepared them for life, not just basketball.”

Pete was, above all else, a family man. He and Kathi raised sons Marty, Mike, Pat, and Kevin. His boys grew up in gyms, on buses, and sitting in bleachers, living the rhythms of basketball seasons, watching their father coach with intensity, humor, and an unwavering sense of purpose.

“I always said I had my own basketball team. Four boys and Pete,” Kathi laughs, remembering the chaos and joy of those years. When Pete was on the road, Kathi worked her way through classes at CR, eventually earning her associates degree, and later her teaching credential. “He was always positive about us growing,” she says. “He wanted his family to be strong and self-sufficient.”

The Mathiesen’s carried the values of honesty, work ethic, and kindness through every chapter of their lives. Even after moving to Chico, Humboldt remained an anchor in their hearts. “I always thought we’d go back,” Kathi says softly. They kept friendships from those early CR days, memories of the new campus rising from the dirt, and admiration for the community that embraced them.

Pete passed away on February 12, 2022, at age 85. At his celebration of life, former players arrived from across California, and even from overseas, to honor the man who had shaped them. The room filled with stories of discipline, road trips, humor, heartbreak, accomplishments, and the relentless phone calls he made just to ask how someone was doing.

Even players he cut stayed in touch.

That was the kind of man he was.

When asked what she hopes people remember about Pete, Kathi doesn’t hesitate. “That he was fun,” she says. “That he cared. That he helped people become who they were supposed to be.”

Strict when necessary. Warm always. A coach who never stopped coaching. A husband who, even now, brings a light to Kathi’s voice. A father whose lessons echo in his sons and grandchildren. A pioneer whose vision helped shape College of the Redwoods. A global ambassador for the game who never forgot where he started.

Pete Mathiesen’s legacy is not measured in games won or titles earned, but in the lives he transformed and the character he forged at College of the Redwoods and beyond. His spirit reminds us that dedication, heart, and integrity can light the way for generations yet to come.