Whitko's Loss Is Valley's Gain
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
I'll come right out and say it: I am a Bill Patrick fan. I'll make no apologies, I always have been and always will be a Patrick supporter.
Obviously, no one was happier to learn that Patrick had accepted a position to coach the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings.
Naturally, I had anticipated Friday night's Valley-Whitko matchup for weeks.
Finally Patrick would be able to prove to Whitko that they've been missing something for the past three years - quality high school basketball coaching.
In his 29 years with the Whitko School Corporation, Bill Patrick was the only boys basketball coach Whitko ever had. He racked up a whopping 478 wins and never had a losing season (His worst record was 11-10). He also led the Wildcats to 11 sectional championships, two regional championships, and a trip to the 1991 Final Four Tournament. And Patrick did all this before the class system, the supposed savior of high school basketball for small schools.
For some reason after 29 successful years of Patrick's coaching, athletic director Greg Roach and principal Tim Holcomb decided that they knew more about coaching basketball than he did.
Roach and Holcomb, along with a select few members of the community, would not allow Patrick to have his son Chad as an assistant varsity coach.
Though Chad was not acceptable as an assistant varsity coach, he was acceptable as a freshman boys coach. Go figure.
Bill Patrick was not forced to leave Whitko, but he decided to stand up for what he believed. He stood up for his freedom to choose his coaching staff.
"I didn't have to leave, I didn't have to resign," said Patrick in one interview. "They just didn't want to OK my assistant coaches. That was the problem."
Just two years after Patrick left, Whitko experienced its first losing season. During the 1996-97 season, coach Dave Henson led the Wildcats to a 10-11 season.
Way to go, Whitko.
One year later, Whitko hired a new principal and new athletic director, and Patrick applied to get his job back.
By rehiring Patrick, Whitko could have righted a serious wrong that had occurred. Instead Whitko hired Fred Fields, who had an impressive record as a girls basketball coach at Huntington North.
Way to go, Whitko.
Now, two years later, Patrick has returned to coaching. But instead of the familiar Whitko red and blue of the past, Patrick dons the Tippecanoe Valley green and gold of the present alongside the coaching staff of his choice.
Fields, still at Whitko, talks of building a basketball program. Under Fields, the Wildcats have been mediocre at best, going a combined 7-20 (5-17 last year, and 2-3 to date) since his arrival, and the excuses about building a program are growing stale.
"That bothers me a little bit. He (Fields) says he's building a program at Whitko, but I'd like to know what we had for 29 years, said Patrick. "We had something for 29 years, but I guess I don't know what that was. We just won for 29 years."
This year, Patrick came into a Valley program that was a lackluster 6-15 last season and had only two varsity starters returning to the court. In just a few months, the Vikings have markedly improved.
Under Patrick, Valley has started 3-1, the best start since the '91 season, and has racked up more wins in four weeks than they won in the entire first half of last year.
"Basically my goal was to come in and build a team right away," said Patrick. "I just wanted to come in and win some ball games.
"The first few weeks of practice we spent 95 percent of our time on basic fundamentals. At the time the guys wondered why we were spending that much time on the drills. I'm sure they thought it was stupid, but those fundamentals are paying off now.
"I guess I'm not a great coach, I'm not worried about building a program from scratch. I work with what I've got now. I want to win early."
As a 1994 Whitko graduate, I had the privilege of witnessing Patrick coach for four of his 29 years at Whitko. While in the stands at Valley Friday, I realized that many of the fans who once cheered for Whitko now sit at Valley cheering for the Vikings.
Partick proved something Friday that many people at Whitko have known for years- Bill Patrick is in a class by himself. When time ran out at the Whitko-Valley game, the final score showed the Vikings decisively on top, 66-51.
After watching Friday's game, all I have to say is - the Whitko basketball program, if you can still call it that, is a shell of its former self.
It's a shame that it took the efforts of a few members of the minority to bring down a respected basketball empire that took 29 years to build. [[In-content Ad]]
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I'll come right out and say it: I am a Bill Patrick fan. I'll make no apologies, I always have been and always will be a Patrick supporter.
Obviously, no one was happier to learn that Patrick had accepted a position to coach the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings.
Naturally, I had anticipated Friday night's Valley-Whitko matchup for weeks.
Finally Patrick would be able to prove to Whitko that they've been missing something for the past three years - quality high school basketball coaching.
In his 29 years with the Whitko School Corporation, Bill Patrick was the only boys basketball coach Whitko ever had. He racked up a whopping 478 wins and never had a losing season (His worst record was 11-10). He also led the Wildcats to 11 sectional championships, two regional championships, and a trip to the 1991 Final Four Tournament. And Patrick did all this before the class system, the supposed savior of high school basketball for small schools.
For some reason after 29 successful years of Patrick's coaching, athletic director Greg Roach and principal Tim Holcomb decided that they knew more about coaching basketball than he did.
Roach and Holcomb, along with a select few members of the community, would not allow Patrick to have his son Chad as an assistant varsity coach.
Though Chad was not acceptable as an assistant varsity coach, he was acceptable as a freshman boys coach. Go figure.
Bill Patrick was not forced to leave Whitko, but he decided to stand up for what he believed. He stood up for his freedom to choose his coaching staff.
"I didn't have to leave, I didn't have to resign," said Patrick in one interview. "They just didn't want to OK my assistant coaches. That was the problem."
Just two years after Patrick left, Whitko experienced its first losing season. During the 1996-97 season, coach Dave Henson led the Wildcats to a 10-11 season.
Way to go, Whitko.
One year later, Whitko hired a new principal and new athletic director, and Patrick applied to get his job back.
By rehiring Patrick, Whitko could have righted a serious wrong that had occurred. Instead Whitko hired Fred Fields, who had an impressive record as a girls basketball coach at Huntington North.
Way to go, Whitko.
Now, two years later, Patrick has returned to coaching. But instead of the familiar Whitko red and blue of the past, Patrick dons the Tippecanoe Valley green and gold of the present alongside the coaching staff of his choice.
Fields, still at Whitko, talks of building a basketball program. Under Fields, the Wildcats have been mediocre at best, going a combined 7-20 (5-17 last year, and 2-3 to date) since his arrival, and the excuses about building a program are growing stale.
"That bothers me a little bit. He (Fields) says he's building a program at Whitko, but I'd like to know what we had for 29 years, said Patrick. "We had something for 29 years, but I guess I don't know what that was. We just won for 29 years."
This year, Patrick came into a Valley program that was a lackluster 6-15 last season and had only two varsity starters returning to the court. In just a few months, the Vikings have markedly improved.
Under Patrick, Valley has started 3-1, the best start since the '91 season, and has racked up more wins in four weeks than they won in the entire first half of last year.
"Basically my goal was to come in and build a team right away," said Patrick. "I just wanted to come in and win some ball games.
"The first few weeks of practice we spent 95 percent of our time on basic fundamentals. At the time the guys wondered why we were spending that much time on the drills. I'm sure they thought it was stupid, but those fundamentals are paying off now.
"I guess I'm not a great coach, I'm not worried about building a program from scratch. I work with what I've got now. I want to win early."
As a 1994 Whitko graduate, I had the privilege of witnessing Patrick coach for four of his 29 years at Whitko. While in the stands at Valley Friday, I realized that many of the fans who once cheered for Whitko now sit at Valley cheering for the Vikings.
Partick proved something Friday that many people at Whitko have known for years- Bill Patrick is in a class by himself. When time ran out at the Whitko-Valley game, the final score showed the Vikings decisively on top, 66-51.
After watching Friday's game, all I have to say is - the Whitko basketball program, if you can still call it that, is a shell of its former self.
It's a shame that it took the efforts of a few members of the minority to bring down a respected basketball empire that took 29 years to build. [[In-content Ad]]