Goshert Named Times-Union Boys BB Coach Of The Year
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊGary Goshert received the phone call, one that would inspire a team to an 18-3 record, before the basketball season started.
The coach (who Goshert wanted to remain nameless) on the other end of the line told the Manchester coach his team was throwing a party since the Squires had lost Eric Swan.
Swan led Manchester with 13 points per game as a sophomore the year before and was widely regarded as the Squires' best player. But he and his family moved to California before this season started.
As soon as he hung up the phone, Goshert walked out of his office to deliver the message to his players. Listen, he told them. Everyone's counting us out, saying we won't be anything, all because we lost one out of 12 players. What do you guys think about that?
"We were doing something on the stage, probably our rope program, jumping rope," Goshert says. "I went up to the stage and gave a big ol' pep talk. The players saw the fire in my eyes, the tone in my voice, how excited I felt. They picked it up from there. They had the attitude, 'By golly, we'll show people we're good.'
"We mentioned that two or three times throughout the season. It's one of those things that's a blessing in disguise."
Relying on good old-fashioned guts, heart and a determination to prove the world wrong, the Squires went 18-2 during the regular season. They went 7-0 in the Three Rivers Conference to win their second straight TRC title. They climbed as high as second in the 2A poll.
"I think I made the comment to somebody - some people say the word 'overachieve' - that this team has gone beyond expectations farther as far as how well it's played and how well the team has meshed together more so than any other team I've coached," says Goshert, who has coached varsity basketball for 18 years.
So when the run ended on the first night of the Maconaquah Sectional, that was much too soon to suit Goshert and his players. A 17-3 Maconaquah team beat Manchester 75-61. The Braves pretty much hit anything they threw toward the basket, treating 28-foot three-pointers like layups, hitting 25 of 38 shots overall and shooting 66 percent.
"We had a hard time handling not going any farther than we did," Goshert says. "We were very disappointed, and that includes players and coaches.
"It wasn't that we didn't know how good Maconaquah was. We did. It's just that we had nearly always found a way to come out on top. It didn't matter how. We found a way. But we didn't that time."
After the Squires lost Swan, they still won. When senior reserve Jonathan Price, a player the Manchester coaches were counting on to be a big scorer in place of Swan, left the team in the middle of the season, they still won. And when junior starter Steve Fawcett went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the 16th game, yes, they still won.
"More than anything else, what I'll remember about this year was turning what could be considered a tough situation into a positive challenge," Goshert says. "I thought this team showed fantastic character. These players did a tremendous amount of work in the off-season. They prepared well, and they came in with confidence.
"The chemistry you have on a team is important. That was extremely high on this team. We weren't perfect, and we had to talk to the kids. When we addressed things, the kids were always willing to change gears to get themselves back on the right track. Like I told you before, and I'll say it again, this was an extremely coachable bunch of kids."
And that helped make life easier for Goshert, who nearly ran himself ragged.
When Goshert took the Manchester job in the summer of 1996, he and his family had every intention of moving to North Manchester, or at least close to it.
But Goshert, who lived in Ligonier then, lives in Ligonier now. His drive is at least 35 miles one way. It takes 50 minutes on a good day, 1-1/2 hours on a bad day, because he has to use back roads until he hits Ind. 13.
"Our goal was to move that first year, but you have to realize, I've had three coaching jobs and been fortunate to live in the same place," he says. "I didn't realize how much of a chore it would be to sell a house.
"If I lived here, that would enable me to get more involved with the AAU, junior high and elementary programs. Right now the way it is, just to be ready for school and basketball practice, it's all I can do to go home, sleep and come back."
Still, when reporters called for a weekly chat with Goshert, you could almost always get him at the high school at 7:30 in the morning. During one stretch in December and January, Goshert would arrive home between 11 at night and 2 in the morning then be back at school by 7:30 a.m. Asked if he ever pulled a Dick Vermeil - Vermeil slept in his office when he coached the Philadelphia Eagles -ÊGoshert said no.
"I always went home during the week, even if was for only three or four hours," he says. "Like a lot of coaches, I didn't see a lot of daylight. I drove to school when it was dark, and I drove home when it was dark."
Those were the days he got a lot of sleep. After Friday and Saturday games, the coaches usually ate pizza and watched game tapes. Goshert rarely arrived home before 3 a.m. But Goshert enjoyed that time with his coaching staff. Former player Brett Eberly, who attends Huntington College and is interested in coaching, would go on a date with his girlfriend then knock on Goshert's office door to watch tapes with him and assistant coach Steve Rice.
Keeping that schedule, Goshert still tried to get to Wabash for a basketball coaches' radio show at 8:30 on Saturday mornings.
"When you get home at 3:30 then get up at 7 to get down to Wabash, that really works you over," Goshert says.
The radio hosts, seeing Goshert's plight, quickly offered to let him call in. He did.
Even though sleep was minimal, even though his players lost in the first round of the sectional, Goshert wouldn't trade the season this team had for any.
"For this whole thing to go as well as it did, it took players and a dedicated coaching staff," he says. "These are kids whose parents should be popping buttons over left and right. And I know they are.
"Nobody thought they'd be even half this good. I've never been involved with a group like this group. It's second to none, as far as I'm concerned, with all the coaching I've been involved with.
"These were kids who seemed very sincere, who genuinely cared about each other and their coaches." [[In-content Ad]]
NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊGary Goshert received the phone call, one that would inspire a team to an 18-3 record, before the basketball season started.
The coach (who Goshert wanted to remain nameless) on the other end of the line told the Manchester coach his team was throwing a party since the Squires had lost Eric Swan.
Swan led Manchester with 13 points per game as a sophomore the year before and was widely regarded as the Squires' best player. But he and his family moved to California before this season started.
As soon as he hung up the phone, Goshert walked out of his office to deliver the message to his players. Listen, he told them. Everyone's counting us out, saying we won't be anything, all because we lost one out of 12 players. What do you guys think about that?
"We were doing something on the stage, probably our rope program, jumping rope," Goshert says. "I went up to the stage and gave a big ol' pep talk. The players saw the fire in my eyes, the tone in my voice, how excited I felt. They picked it up from there. They had the attitude, 'By golly, we'll show people we're good.'
"We mentioned that two or three times throughout the season. It's one of those things that's a blessing in disguise."
Relying on good old-fashioned guts, heart and a determination to prove the world wrong, the Squires went 18-2 during the regular season. They went 7-0 in the Three Rivers Conference to win their second straight TRC title. They climbed as high as second in the 2A poll.
"I think I made the comment to somebody - some people say the word 'overachieve' - that this team has gone beyond expectations farther as far as how well it's played and how well the team has meshed together more so than any other team I've coached," says Goshert, who has coached varsity basketball for 18 years.
So when the run ended on the first night of the Maconaquah Sectional, that was much too soon to suit Goshert and his players. A 17-3 Maconaquah team beat Manchester 75-61. The Braves pretty much hit anything they threw toward the basket, treating 28-foot three-pointers like layups, hitting 25 of 38 shots overall and shooting 66 percent.
"We had a hard time handling not going any farther than we did," Goshert says. "We were very disappointed, and that includes players and coaches.
"It wasn't that we didn't know how good Maconaquah was. We did. It's just that we had nearly always found a way to come out on top. It didn't matter how. We found a way. But we didn't that time."
After the Squires lost Swan, they still won. When senior reserve Jonathan Price, a player the Manchester coaches were counting on to be a big scorer in place of Swan, left the team in the middle of the season, they still won. And when junior starter Steve Fawcett went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the 16th game, yes, they still won.
"More than anything else, what I'll remember about this year was turning what could be considered a tough situation into a positive challenge," Goshert says. "I thought this team showed fantastic character. These players did a tremendous amount of work in the off-season. They prepared well, and they came in with confidence.
"The chemistry you have on a team is important. That was extremely high on this team. We weren't perfect, and we had to talk to the kids. When we addressed things, the kids were always willing to change gears to get themselves back on the right track. Like I told you before, and I'll say it again, this was an extremely coachable bunch of kids."
And that helped make life easier for Goshert, who nearly ran himself ragged.
When Goshert took the Manchester job in the summer of 1996, he and his family had every intention of moving to North Manchester, or at least close to it.
But Goshert, who lived in Ligonier then, lives in Ligonier now. His drive is at least 35 miles one way. It takes 50 minutes on a good day, 1-1/2 hours on a bad day, because he has to use back roads until he hits Ind. 13.
"Our goal was to move that first year, but you have to realize, I've had three coaching jobs and been fortunate to live in the same place," he says. "I didn't realize how much of a chore it would be to sell a house.
"If I lived here, that would enable me to get more involved with the AAU, junior high and elementary programs. Right now the way it is, just to be ready for school and basketball practice, it's all I can do to go home, sleep and come back."
Still, when reporters called for a weekly chat with Goshert, you could almost always get him at the high school at 7:30 in the morning. During one stretch in December and January, Goshert would arrive home between 11 at night and 2 in the morning then be back at school by 7:30 a.m. Asked if he ever pulled a Dick Vermeil - Vermeil slept in his office when he coached the Philadelphia Eagles -ÊGoshert said no.
"I always went home during the week, even if was for only three or four hours," he says. "Like a lot of coaches, I didn't see a lot of daylight. I drove to school when it was dark, and I drove home when it was dark."
Those were the days he got a lot of sleep. After Friday and Saturday games, the coaches usually ate pizza and watched game tapes. Goshert rarely arrived home before 3 a.m. But Goshert enjoyed that time with his coaching staff. Former player Brett Eberly, who attends Huntington College and is interested in coaching, would go on a date with his girlfriend then knock on Goshert's office door to watch tapes with him and assistant coach Steve Rice.
Keeping that schedule, Goshert still tried to get to Wabash for a basketball coaches' radio show at 8:30 on Saturday mornings.
"When you get home at 3:30 then get up at 7 to get down to Wabash, that really works you over," Goshert says.
The radio hosts, seeing Goshert's plight, quickly offered to let him call in. He did.
Even though sleep was minimal, even though his players lost in the first round of the sectional, Goshert wouldn't trade the season this team had for any.
"For this whole thing to go as well as it did, it took players and a dedicated coaching staff," he says. "These are kids whose parents should be popping buttons over left and right. And I know they are.
"Nobody thought they'd be even half this good. I've never been involved with a group like this group. It's second to none, as far as I'm concerned, with all the coaching I've been involved with.
"These were kids who seemed very sincere, who genuinely cared about each other and their coaches." [[In-content Ad]]