In response to the letter regarding Coach Doug Ogle on Thursday, I would like to respectfully disagree. As a former player of Coach Ogle, I feel that I have plenty of experience to say that he is both a great man and an incredible coach. I was not able to attend the Elkhart Memorial game, but I have seen several other games this season, and I am confident that losing a game should not put Coach Ogle's job in jeopardy.
Nic Moore, in my opinion, is the best player in the state. I was there the night he scored 50 points, and I doubt I will ever see a high school performance as impressive as the one Nic had that night. But to expect that production from him each and every game? That's naive. He may not have scored as many points as his record-breaking performance, but 22 points, nine rebounds, and six assists is not a bad performance by any means.
Ms. Jones made many good observations about the types of players Warsaw has this year, and that depth and athleticism will help them greatly when it comes to the state tournament in March. However, she failed to mention that Elkhart Memorial shot 12-24 on 3-point shots that night, contributing to over half of their 64 points. Ask any coach or player and they will tell you how difficult it is to beat a team shooting that effectively.
Coach Ogle did not "let the Plumlees leave town". The Plumlees made the best decision for their situation, and that was to go to a prep-school that would let them focus solely on basketball and getting them to the Division-I level. If you look at the top players coming out of high school each year, you'll find that nearly all of them went to some sort of private school. Instead of complaining about how different it would have been with them playing for Warsaw, I choose to cheer them on and congratulate them on all the success they've earned.
Let's face reality, the Tigers don't need a coaching change, the games are as exciting as they've ever been, the Tiger Den has consistently been packed, and they have a star player whose accomplishments will not be matched for many years to come.
