Whitman College Athletics

Dave Mastin '88, a 6-foot-4 forward with the talent and versatility to play any position on the basketball floor, set a standard of excellence that few players have matched in the long history of the Northwest Conference.

Mastin, in fact, is one of just seven players in the conference who earned All-NWC First-Team honors in each of his four seasons.

Following an all-state prep career at Walla Walla High School, Mastin turned down the chance to play NCAA Division I basketball to come to Whitman to play for coach Jim Mastin, his father.

Mastin wasted no time carving his own conference niche, averaging 14.4 points and 7.4 rebounds as a freshman while becoming the only non-senior voted by coaches to the All-NWC First Team.

Whitman, which had finished in a last-place tie the year before, rolled to a 16-10 season record that included a 7-5 mark and third-place finish in the conference.

Mastin: Heading for hoop

While his freshman numbers were impressive, Mastin hit his stride as a sophomore when he averaged 15.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He grabbed as many as 21 rebounds in a game while leading the conference and NAIA District I in rebounding. He finished 16th in the NAIA national rebounding ranks.

His sophomore campaign included more than a dozen double-doubles (10 or more points and rebounds in the same game). One such game was a 31-point, 13-rebound effort against Pacific Lutheran.

As a junior, Mastin averaged 15.8 points and 9.0 rebounds as Whitman enjoyed one of its best-ever  seasons. The Missionaries posted a 21-8 mark and advanced to the second round of the NAIA district playoffs before falling just short of a berth at the NAIA national championship tournament.

He capped that season with one of his most notable honors, earning a sport on the Little All-Northwest Team. Players from all NCAA Division II and NAIA schools in the Northwest were eligible for that honor.

Despite abdominal surgery that hampered his final season, Mastin averaged 15 points and 9.9 rebounds, leading the conference in rebounding for a third straight year.

He and teammate Brian Richard led the Missionaries to a share of the NWC title, although the team fell a few percentage points short of advancing again to the NAIA district playoffs.

Both Richard and Mastin were also voted to the NAIA's All-District team -- an honor bestowed on Mastin for a third consecutive season.

Mastin: Heads-up player

"Dave's will to win carried our team," Richard said. "We won a lot of games that Dave simply wouldn't let us lose ... He was our inspiration." 

Eric Proscher, a former teammate who played professionally in Europe following graduation, remembers Mastin as the "best rebounder I ever played with or against. His work ethic was unmatched. He never stopped. He earned every thing he got."

Mastin still ranks fifth on Whitman's career scoring list with 1,605 points and second on the all-time rebounding list with 976, an average of 9.3 rebounds over 105 career games.

His career numbers also include 309 assists and 156 steals.

After Whitman, Mastin earned his law degree at Gonzaga University, practiced law and served multiple terms in the Washington State House of Representatives. He is now a financial consultant and lives with his family in Walla Walla. 

Mastin joins his father, who passed away in 2005, in the Whitman Athletics Hall of Fame.