Kalin Walling's coaching stops include stints as an assistant at UC Santa Cruz and Sacramento State.

It's been a long time since Kalin Walling considered himself a Portlander.

He played basketball at Lincoln, where he was a teammate of Salim Stoudamire, before moving to California and graduating from Santa Barbara High School in 2000.

His basketball-coaching journey has taken him up and down the West Coast, including one season as an assistant at Aloha in 2011, but he has been mostly out of the loop on the Portland scene.

That will change this year for Walling, the new boys coach at Lincoln. He replaces Heather Seely-Roberts, who went 62-46 in four seasons, including 4-21 last season.

“When I grew up, my parents worked downtown, so I'd walk from Lincoln High School to Wallace Park almost every day,” Walling said. “So northwest Portland is very much home to me.

“I've been gone pretty much my entire coaching career, so to have an opportunity to come back with my own program, and really prove to myself and everybody who's been watching me from afar, it's a great opportunity.”

Walling's homecoming was foreshadowed last season when, as a graduate assistant for Sacramento State, more than 30 friends and family showed up to support him in a game at Portland State.

“Almost everyone I knew showed up,” Walling said. “That just showed me that people here are really rooting for me. There will be at least 30 people at the Lincoln games.”

Walling got hooked on coaching from when he started at age 21 as an assistant at Laguna Blanca, a prep school in Santa Barbara. He also helped in high school programs in San Diego and Seattle before assisting at Aloha, then moved back to California to complete his undergraduate degree at Sacramento State.

He spent five seasons (2014-19) assisting at Agoura (Calif.) under Conley Oliver, a former teammate of Damon Stoudamire at Wilson. He helped the team win its first league title in two decades.

“We did that through the youth programs and being in the gym six, seven days a week,” Walling said.

After Agoura, Walling worked with NBA trainers at the Mamba Sports Academy and assisted for one season at UC Santa Cruz (2022-23). He went back to Sacramento State to complete his master's degree in recreational administration, joining the basketball program last season as a graduate assistant.

Walling finished his master's in May and began searching for high school and college jobs on the West Coast. He was late to the hiring process at Lincoln, but was granted an interview and made it count

“It kind of fell into place,” he said. ”It was a little too good to be true. I've had really good experiences sort of following my gut and going back to places where I feel like I have a community responsibility. Having a connection and support is important.”

In 2023, Lincoln won the Portland Interscholastic League title and reached the 6A semifinals, finishing with a 25-5 record. The Cardinals slipped to 14-12 and 4-21 the last two seasons.

“I know they took some lumps,” Walling said. “I think I'm going to be able to build it back pretty quick. I sort of learned the blueprint of how to do it at Agoura. I don't see any reason I can't do it here.”

At Agoura, Walling said that “keeping our kids together as much as we could year-round” on club teams was key to the program's success. He is hopeful to start his own club in Portland.

“I'm really excited to tap into the basketball community here and get caught up on what's been happening,” said Walling, whose primary income in California came from basketball training.

At this stage of his life, moving back to Portland is a bold move for Walling. He said he had to convince Lincoln athletic director Matt Wiles that he was up for it.

“He said, 'Are you serious about this?'” said Walling, who is single and does not have children. “Most people don't move states for a high school varsity job. And I said, 'Well, this isn't just any job to me. It's very much home.'”