July 30, 2014 at 1:39 p.m.
Jack Bennett returns to Rhinelander for youth basketball camp
Jack Bennett returns to Rhinelander for youth basketball camp
Bennett was on hand instructing players during the Hodag Hoops Camp at the Jim Miazga Community Gymnasium. The camp, for players entering grades 3-9, started Monday and concludes Thursday. The time Bennett spent with the players Tuesday has been one of the camp's main highlights.
Rhinelander High School boys' basketball coach Derek Lemmens, who runs the camp in conjunction with the Rhinelander Basketball Association, said having Bennett at the camp brought back memories.
"I grew up playing Bennett basketball," said Lemmens, a 2001 RHS graduate. "I grew up wanting to play for coach Bennett. All the way up to my freshman year, he was the face of Rhinelander basketball. That is the person who led Little Hodags, who led Hodag Hoops Camp and I was in attendance at all those things. So it's always special. A lot of what I do is based off of what he's done."
Bennett's resume speaks for itself - back-to-back NCAA Division III men's basketball national championships at UW-Stevens Point in 2004 and 2005 and induction into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006 as part of a 33-year coaching career in the high school and collegiate ranks.
Prior to taking the job at UWSP, Bennett coached from 1990-1996 at Rhinelander High School.
Bennett told the River News he enjoyed returning to a community that is very passionate about its basketball.
"My main message - and this is from my experience as a Rhinelander coach - is that basketball in an important sport in Rhinelander," he said. "There's a great tradition of excellent basketball and my message to those players is just do things right, do things with quality, learn the game the right way and, you know what, the wins, the losses, the expectations will take care of itself. Too often (with) players, and sometimes fans and parents, the pressure is to win. I believe that winning is the result of doing things with quality instead of worrying about the quantity.
"We tried to translate it into some drills about ball security, some passing drills, proper shooting technique and then - if you know me and you know our family at all - I had to talk a little defense at the end. We talked about team defense, the kind to defense that makes it hard for people to attack a team."
Bennett, of course, is part of a very successful coaching family. His older brother Dick took Wisconsin to the Final Four in 2000 and his nephew, Tony, led the Virginia Cavaliers to a No. 1 seed in this year's NCAA tournament.
Lemmens said he hopes none of that is lost on the campers, some of whom were still in diapers when Bennett coached his final collegiate game.
"I hope that these kids can really appreciate what that is and who coach Bennett is," he said. "You always worry with kids these days because, coach Bennett, back in the '90s was when he coached here. At UWSP, nine years ago was their last national championship and these kids don't really appreciate those things until they get older. I'm hoping that they not only appreciate, but every word that he said, they just kind of soak it up and realize that's a formula for success."
Bennett reflects on Rhinelander
"It was really fun to come up there, but it was a really nostalgic walk back in time and I appreciated Derek inviting me to come up," Bennett said of Tuesday's trip to the Hodag city.
The trip conjured up plenty of old memories, including the atmosphere inside the old RHS gym on Tuesday and Friday nights during the depths of winter.
"I thought that our game facility - the old gym - was one of the best high school atmospheres around," Bennett said. "We used to pack that place. I had numerous coaches, back in the old Wisconsin Valley, the big Wisconsin Valley, whether it's Rapids or SPASH or the Wausau schools that said there's nothing quite like the atmosphere when we come to Rhinelander. It was a great high school gym."
Bennett added he can't forget the players and people he worked with at RHS.
"Rhinelander is where I coached my oldest son, Jay, who's a doctor now," he said. "We had some good teams up there, but I'll never forget that last year when I had Jay and the Doering brothers - Jason and Troy - Jeff Eckert, Kurt Johnson, Jesse Lehman, just a number of really good, tough kids. Rhinelander was a great spot and I have to mention this: I worked for an excellent administrator/superintendent in Bob Hanson. He's one of the guys that rejuvenated my love of the game of basketball and coaching."
Tuesday's trip to the renovated and renamed Miazga Gym was not a complete culture shock to Bennett, who said he previously toured the facility a year and a half ago.
"I'm absolutely impressed with it," he said. "To be quite honest with you, it's the kind of thing I was dreaming of when I coached there, to get a facility with the number of baskets and had that kind of lighting."
Bennett said he also recalls a couple of young gym rats who were campers back when he ran the Hodag Hoops Camp - Lemmens and his younger brother, Nate.
"Both he and his brother Nate, who's (coaching) at Wausau West, they were little guys coming through our Little Hodag program and our summer camps when I coached up there in the '90s," Bennett said. "I consider them young boys, but now they're young men who are running their own programs."
As for the elder Lemmens, Bennett said he had done well carrying on the proud tradition of Hodag basketball.
"Rhinelander is a special place and I appreciated the offer from Derek. He's doing a great job with the program."
These days, Bennett said he's still involved in basketball but is also finding time for other activities.
"I do some part-time stuff," he said. "I know I'm catching up on a lot of golf that I was never able to play when I was coaching with camps - whether it was college or high school. I've got grandsons over in Marshfield right now. Then of, course, (my son) Nick, who played on our two national championship teams, he's now an assistant coach at Whitewater and they had quite a year."
More than 70 campers in attendance
Bennett was not the only big name Lemmens brought in for the camp.
"We've got coach (Dave) Gibbs from Port Edwards," Lemmens said. "He brought a crew of guys. He was Channel 7 coach of the year this year. We have head coach at Necedah Chris Sailer. We've got varsity coaches here with varsity experience."
In all 74 players are taking part in this week's camp - 21 in morning session for grades 3-5 and 53 in the midday session for grades 6-9.
"We're hoping in the future we can continue to improve those numbers," Lemmens said. "We've always had smaller numbers with that (younger group), but once kids start getting into traveling team and all those things, they get more serious and start to love the game more."
Lemmens said the camp focuses on fundamentals, advanced skills and games.
"We want to work on the fundamentals - the dribbling, the passing, the shooting. In this camp we really work on a few more advanced drills and advanced skills," he said. "Then we want to play. I want these kids to compete. I want them to get a lot of opportunities to play and have fun. It's all about making these kids love the game so much that they want to play more than just five months out of the year. So with all the drill and the skill we also want to make sure we're making this enjoyable and high energy."
Lemmens and the staff will hand out awards for various games and contests during Thursday's camp session. Look for those photos in Saturday's River News.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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