By Jeff Holsinger, Times-Union Sports Editor

As North Carolina State basketball coach, the late Jim Valvano once asked Hall of Fame referee Hank Nichols if he could "tee him up" -Êgive him a technical foul - for what he was thinking.

The referee told Valvano no.

"Good," Valvano replied, "In that case, I think you suck."

Some coaches have that knack for working referees. In this case, Valvano had the knack. The Valvano story is told in John Feinstein's book, "A March To Madness." Nichols said it was such a good line, he did not call the technical foul on Valvano.

Bill Patrick has the knack.

Patrick is the guy who never had a losing season in 29 years as a varsity basketball coach in the Whitko School Corporation. His career record is 478-181 (.725). In his 29 years, he has had zero losing seasons. His worst record is 11-10.

He resigned at Whitko after the 1994-1995 season. After spending three basketball off-seasons at home watching college basketball games on ESPN, he coached his first game since March 3, 1995, on Nov. 25, 1998.

Now Patrick coaches the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings. His return came in Warsaw's Tiger Den, where to nobody's shock, the Tigers won 75-57.

The loudest fan reaction of the night was directed at Patrick.

This, also, is no shock.

Coaches like Patrick or Warsaw's Al Rhodes are like ex-Detroit Piston center Bill Laimbeer. You downright despise these guys as opponents. Yet you respect them and know they are outstanding at what they do. This is why they drive you nuts.

This is why you would love to have them coach or play for your team.

Ask Valley fans. They couldn't stand Patrick's antics when he coached rival Whitko. They screamed "Sit down, Patrick," among other things.

Now they love him. He's on their team.

It took Patrick just the third quarter in his first game back to show he still has the knack.

This happened with just over two minutes left in the quarter, when a ball was tipped out of bounds. One referee said Valley tipped it out, so the ball belonged to Warsaw.

Incensed, Patrick verbally contacted the referees.

Patrick walked from Valley's east end of the gym past the scorer's table, took the road in front of Rhodes and the Tiger bench, strode onto the court and on past a painted Warsaw Tiger insignia.

By the time Patrick finished his walk, he ended up between the hash mark and the free-throw line at the west end of the gym. He just wasn't out of his coach's box; he was on the court at the other end of the floor, where he began chatting up one official.

Seeing Patrick on the middle of the floor set everyone off.

Warsaw fans jeered. Al Rhodes sneered. Valley fans cheered.

When Patrick left, he didn't return to his coach's box. He instead returned to the front of the scorer's table, where he stood only a few feet away from a stunned Rhodes, who stared at the officials in a slack-jawed state of disbelief. Eventually Patrick returned to his coaching box.

Rhodes, all the while standing in his rightful coaching box, loudly questioned why Patrick escaped scot-free, jabbing a finger at the spot on the floor, in case the referees had forgotten.

This was not the only time Patrick walked on the floor. He later went to halfcourt after Warsaw 6-foot-5 forward Steve Siebenmorgen and Valley 6-0 forward Eric Prater collided. Prater was called for the foul.

"I thought (Siebenmorgen) stuck his foot out and tripped him," Patrick said. "From where we were, it looked intentional. The official didn't think so. He thought it was accidental. I don't know. Maybe it was. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt."

Patrick was later asked if he thought the referees would call a technical foul on him.

"When I went down, I knew they weren't going to call the technical," he said. "There was no way in the world they were going to call the technical. If I went up in the stands, they weren't going to call the technical.

"They knew they made a bad call. They missed two calls. They knew they missed two calls. We had one kid down there, somebody got pushed when I went out on the floor. The guy got pushed, and they missed it. (Referee Tom) Schenkel admitted it and said they blew it."

At first his answer may shock you, but then you remember, this guy is in his 30th year as varsity coach. He has coached 659 varsity basketball games.

He knows how to pick and choose his spots.

Mind you, this is only about this one play. As far as the outcome the officiating had on the game, Patrick said: "I don't have any complaints about the officiating. They're good officials."

The referees never called a technical foul on him.

Between the third and fourth quarters, Patrick walked on the court to talk with a referee. Seeing this, Rhodes sent a couple of assistant coaches nearby.

Just wondering. When is the last time an opposing coach paraded up and down the Tiger Den court, argued with a referee and did not get "teed up?"

Two words: not recently.

And when is the last time Warsaw got whistled for 17 fouls -Êat home, in one half? It happened in Wednesday's second half. The Vikings got to the free-throw line 20 times in that half alone.

Patrick thought Brandon Eaton, arguably his best player, was being manhandled at times. Who knows if he got this point across to the referees, but after two trips to the free-throw line in the first half, Eaton finished 12 of 16 from the line.

For the first time in school history, the Vikings have a coach who knows how to work the referees. What previous Valley coach could do this?

Not Floyd Henson. Not Roger Fleetwood. Not Roland Fletcher. Not Bob DuBois. Not Gregg Sciarra.

After 24 years of existence, Tippecanoe Valley has its first coach who does not sit on his hands. [[In-content Ad]]