KINGSTON — Blake Conley’s looks can be deceiving.

Earlier this year, while substitute teaching at Kingston Middle School, the 25-year-old was stopped by an administrator and asked to present a hall pass.

“I said, ‘Do I look like I’m in junior high?’” Conley said. “I understand high school, but junior high?”

The brand new Kingston High boys basketball coach is more mature than he looks. Conley has already gathered five years of experience in his field. While attending Western Washington University, he split time working as a coach at Sehome High School in Bellingham and as an assistant at Whitworth University’s summer basketball camps in his hometown of Spokane.

Conley was hired last spring to lead the boys basketball squad at Kingston High, a program that in its first two years of existence has only managed one win. But he says he is not daunted by the thought of taking over a team on a downstroke.

“Every season, no matter how many games you win, there’s going to be peaks and valleys,” he said. “My goal is to be a different team from game one to game 20. I’m excited to see kids change their work habits and for us to become a team.”

Kingston High School athletic director Dan Novick said he hired Conley not just to coach boys basketball, but to mold and shape the team into a solid program for the long term. He believes Conley has the right combination of social and sports know-how to make that happen.

“He understands that concept of developing a basketball program, rather than just a team,” Novick said. “He really stood out as a coach who has developed a philosophy, is well-organized, has a strong knowledge of the game and has a vision.”

Conley, who earned his master’s degree in secondary education from Western Washington University last spring, developed that vision while coaching at Sehome High in Bellingham. His time there included working as lead assistant with the varsity program and heading up the freshman team. At that school, he studied the techniques of head varsity coach Scott Campbell, who led Sehome to a fifth place finish at the state 2A tournament in 2008.

Conley’s early coaching experience also gave him a new appreciation for the way his own high school coach, Bill Ayers of Mount Spokane High, worked.

“I didn’t like him at the time, but I look back at it, and he was a big influence on me,” Conley said of Ayers. “You just notice things about their coaching that you don’t notice when you’re a player.”

Conley also spent the last six summers assisting at basketball camps at Whitworth University. While there, he worked with kids of all ages and honed his coaching skills based on what he learned from Ayers and Campbell.

Whitworth head basketball coach Jim Hayford took notice of Conley’s dedication to the game.

“I think Blake loves the game of basketball, and has a great understanding of it,” Hayford said. “So he’s going to be successful from that standpoint.”

Hayford added that Conley understands the unique role a coach has in shaping players’ lives off the court, and said he believes that knowledge will be an asset to Conley in his new job.

After the first round of tryouts in Kingston, the Buccaneer team is beginning to take shape.

“I think we have a long ways to go,” Conley said. “But I’m just looking for kids working hard right now, and I think we’re learning how to do that. We’re not going to talk about wins and losses. We’re going to take it one game at a time and try to earn each victory as it comes.”

The Bucs open the 2009 season Nov. 28 at a jamboree at North Kitsap High. Play begins at 9 a.m. The team plays its first regular season game at home Dec. 3 versus Chimacum.