For many, playing professional basketball is simply a dream, one only a few gifted athletes get to experience. As child growing up in Washington, Ralph Biggs idolized the local greats — from the Naismith Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins to the lengthy power forward Alvis Rogers.

Biggs spent countless hours gracing the same hallowed ground where his heroes once played, lacing up with the hope the one day he would be considered among them.

“It was great because my generation grew up and we played basketball every day — on 15th Street, 9th Street, the Boys and Girls Club,” Biggs said. “We always played basketball. When we got to high school, it was the same thing. They’re some of the greatest memories I’ve ever had playing basketball.”

From 1990-1994, Biggs donned the Pam Pack blue and white and as a 6-foot-7 senior power forward, he eventually garnered interest from Towson, a Division I basketball institution in Maryland. There, from 1994-1998, he shined and after going undrafted in the 1998 NBA Draft, he chose to live out his dream overseas.

“American college is closer to European basketball than the NBA is to European basketball,” Biggs said. “The NBA requires a lot of athleticism and not so many intricate types of plays. For me, Europe is more strategic, more about our strengths versus your weaknesses, trying to take advantage of your weaknesses and our strengths, more schematic.”

Biggs, now 39, spent 16 years playing professional basketball in Europe with stints in the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia and France. He thrived in the European system, one based on high-octane transition offense, and was honored with the 1999 Dutch League MVP Award and, two years later, the Belgian League MVP Award.

Now, after retiring last season, he’s ready to begin phase two of his basketball career not as a player, but as a coach. Last week, Biggs decided to return to his former high school, accepting the position of women’s basketball coach.

“For me, I’m back in the area because of family and friends,” Biggs said. “I want to be here because I missed so much of my life being gone for so long and I think it’s a great opportunity for me. Washington High has a great tradition of basketball and I think it’s about time they try to bring it back. It was a need for both of us — they needed a coach and I needed to coach.”

Biggs’ basketball background is a melting pot of different styles and systems. Taking bits and pieces from high school, American college and European basketball, he plans to formulate a game plan to fit his player’s individual skillsets. Generally, Biggs plans on introducing some of the fast-paced transition basketball to Washington.

“Personally, I like a lot of motion, a lot of movement. I like transition play,” he said. “I think it’s easier to score before the other teams set their defense. I’m going to try to establish that transition offense from the start, but I have to see what type of talent there is. I have to be flexible to put them in a situation to succeed and not be confined to just one system. I need to run a system conducive to their skills.”

Biggs inherits a team that hasn’t posted a winning record in more than a decade. Last season, the Lady Pack finished with an overall record of 7-12, placing dead last in the Eastern Plains Conference under head coach Jon Scharpenberg, who left the program after one season. Washington, however, began the season 5-0, before sharply dropping off following nonconference play.

“It’s a great hire. We’re definitely upgrading in (the coaching) position,” said athletic director Jon Blank. “He’s bringing a lot of the table. I wouldn’t say I have immediate expectations, but I’d like for him to come in and change to direction of the program. I would find it difficult for anyone in the community not to support him.”

Despite the team’s seemingly perennial struggles, Biggs is throwing out any discussion of rebuilding. To him, this is not a multi-year project. It’s about winning in the moment.

“I can’t expect a senior or junior to plan for the future,” he said. “They want to win now.

“I’m going to get in there, figure out what was going on, see what I can do better, maybe take some things they did well last season and try to make the best situation I can.”

The Lady Pack’s first practice with its new coach will take place on Nov. 2, while the season tips off on Nov. 16.