March 13, 2015 at 2:33 p.m.
Put me in, coach: A look back at leaders who helped mold Rhinelander basketball
Put me in, coach: A look back at leaders who helped mold Rhinelander basketball
When it comes to high school basketball, the game quite
literally begins and ends with the head coach.
It's the coach who sets the starting lineup and devises a scheme on both ends of the floor. Zone or man-to-man, motion or pick-and-roll, it's the coach barking orders from the bench, like a maestro conducting an orchestra, who makes it all go.
Leading a successful program demands much more of a head coach than managing a game though. It's x's and o's, training regimens and scouting. It's Saturday mornings in the gym with elementary schoolers, working on off-hand dribbling. It's filling out the bench with quality assistants and watching hours and hours of film.
Every winter, for more than 100 years, Rhinelander High School has trotted out a basketball team, some mere footnotes now, others truly remarkable.
Equally remarkable has been the school's line of coaches. RHS has seen both former players and eventual hall of famers patrol the Hodag sideline. They were the architects behind some of the best teams and players in school history.
The River News spoke with seven of them about their time as the general of Rhinelander basketball.
Dave Vander Meulen 1966-1969
Dave Vander Meulen coached at Rhinelander for four seasons in the late '60s and won the Wisconsin Valley Conference championship twice.
When he first made his way to Rhinelander to meet with the school board about the job, Vander Meulen said he knew right away what kind of program was waiting for him.
"I knew it from the time I interviewed," he said. "I knew it was a basketball town and I knew they wanted to win at basketball. The school board and the administration from the superintendent on down, they all wanted to win. It was very positive for a coach and that carried right through. The whole community was there to back you all the way through. I spent four years there and really enjoyed it because the people in Rhinelander really got into it."
Vander Meulen never made it to a state tournament, but coached some teams loaded with talent. He said some of those near misses still stick with him.
"It's the one or two losses you remember more than the wins," Vander Meulen said. "We had good enough teams to not only go to the state tournament but do something in the state tournament. We lost a couple of tough games and you really remember those. You don't ever forget those big ones that kept you from going to Madison."
Despite leading the Hodags for only four seasons, the character of his players left a lasting impression on Vander Meulen.
"There was never a problem with the players," he said. "They liked to play and they liked to work. I never had problems getting them to work hard and play hard. I'm not sure that's true in every community. In Rhinelander, every kid we had came to play everyday. That doesn't happen everywhere."
Jim Gleboff 1974-1975
Jim Gleboff's tenure at the head of the program was brief, but impactful. In his two seasons at the helm, the Hodags were kings of the conference and were nearly unbeatable.
"Of course, going 17-1 and 18-0 for two championships in the old Wisconsin Valley Conference which was a great competitive league is a great memory," he said. "Another is when I once got a call from an elderly woman that wanted to thank the team for her wonderful time listening to all the games, home and away. Another time a mother of a little guy in our Little Hodag League for little guys let me know that she had a hard time getting his Little Hodag jersey off to wash it. I heard that from others as well."
Another memory for Gleboff, and a driving force behind his back-to-back conference titles was his star guard Casey Cebula who still ranks second in WVC career scoring with 1,137 points. Gleboff said he was a joy to coach.
"He was a man amongst boys and the anchor of the team," he said. "He was a great high school player whose maturity and ability spread through the rest of the team and made the whole team a cohesive unit who believed they were winners. I'm sure RHS has had many great players in their history but I am sure he has to be one of the very special ones."
Tony Fiore 1976-1985
Tony Fiore coached a decade's worth of teams at RHS, including one of the very best players in program history.
"We had a very good year when Mike Flory was a junior," he said. "Mike scored 52 points in one game, which was a record at that time. We went to sectionals and lost to Green Bay East. Mike Flory started all four years at Rhinelander High School and he led the conference in scoring, and he led the team in scoring, rebounds and assists. John Conz was our point guard and a very good player."
Fiore also recalled another year when his team went on an improbably run in the postseason.
"When Mark Sproul and Jim Kuczmarski played, we beat No. 3 ranked Antigo and No. 1 ranked Wausau East on a Friday and Saturday night. We weren't supposed to win either game. We shot 70 percent on 35 of 50 field goals, which was a conference record at that time."
Tom Andres 1986-1990
Tom Andres took over the program in the mid '80s and had great success. He won Valley championships in his last two years and coached one of the all-time great Rhinelander guards, his son Mark Andres. What he remembers most about his Rhinelander years though is the old gym and the way the fans really packed the stands.
"What I found at Rhinelander is that they came out and supported the kids all the time," he said. "The high school is the main thing in town in terms of activities. You'd go to a Little League baseball game and there would be a whole group of people down there. Rhinelander gets out and supports the kids."
That was certainly the case for varsity basketball and that kind of atmosphere always came in handy.
"We were playing Marinette in one of the tournament games and they brought a bus with about 100 people on it," he said. "We basically filled the gym with another 1,800 people. That's the kind of support we got."
The packed gym created an incredible homecourt advantage for the Hodags, but Andres said the real key to the team's success was the stockpile of talented players he had to work with.
"Coming to Rhinelander wasn't easy for teams," he said. "People had a tough time coming to our gym and playing. I had a group of players from Rick Montreal to David Schiek, my son Mark (Andres), D.J. DeMeyer and Brett VanderBloemen. I was blessed with some really great kids who were willing to buy into playing some really tough defense and being a team. We won some championships and made it to sectionals. Those were good times."
Jack Bennett 1991-1996
In the early '90s, Jack Bennett coached the Hodags to consistent winning seasons and helped nurture some of the program's greatest athletes, but for him Rhinelander was a chance at a rebirth.
"Rhinelander was a place that helped rejuvenate my love of high school basketball," he said. "The Hodags had a tradition of quality basketball and my stint as the head coach at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln provided me with some terrific battles with the Hodags. I admired the intensity, atmosphere and excitement of the old gym. It's also the job that allowed me to coach some outstanding young men, including my oldest son, Jay. Our Little Hodag youth program was in full bloom and helped build the foundation for future Hodag teams. The character of our players, the competitive success we enjoyed in the former Wisconsin Valley Conference and the respect for Hodag basketball helped me gain the UW-Stevens Point job (where he won two national championships) my final nine years in coaching."
While in Rhinelander, Bennett's best team came at the end of his career, but it wasn't just the players that made it a fun run. Everyone involved was special.
"Memorable stories many, but a few are really highlights," he said. "Having superintendent Bob Hanson as our 8th grade coach, coaching the Doering brothers and hopefully providing their family with some fond memories, and beating a big, talented Wausau West team in front of a packed Duke-like RHS gymnasium in our last home game to gain the Valley Championship. We had the best equipment manager in the Valley, Don Hoberg. Coaching my sons, Nick in Little Hodags and Jay in high school was certainly a highlight, and finally, enjoying one of the friendliest, most dedicated secretarial staffs around."
Rich Fortier 1997-2010
When Rich Fortier took over the program, he inherited an incredibly talented roster and responded by returning Rhinelander basketball to the state tournament for the first time in decades. He coached all-time greats like Troy Doering, Marshall Watry and Jake Smith, but it isn't the wins that stick with him.
"Coaching in my hometown was an experience that simply isn't possible for most coaches," Fortier said. "To have participated in Little Hodags as a little guy, the high school program as a player and then as a coach is something that will always be special to me. Rhinelander cares about basketball more than the average northern Wisconsin town. It is hard to go unnoticed as a player or coach during the basketball season. The community is very much a part of Hodag sports, especially basketball. Our players felt it and embraced it."
Most special to Fortier in the nearly 15 years he spent as the Hodag coach though are the relationships he built along the way.
"It would be a disservice to the memories I'd leave out to only mention some," he said. "Those memories are attached to so many specific players. The memories of our guys are countless. The relationships we were able to build and that are still being carried out today are priceless to me. The Christmas parties, the annual fishing trip, the snowball fights after practice and the wrestling matches in the weight room were all memorable. Incidentally, (current Hodag coach) Derek (Lemmens) could more than hold his own against anyone in those wrestling matches, regardless of the size of his opponent."
Now coaching Lakeland, Fortier said he's still trying to duplicate in his players the intangibles that made one of his very first Hodag players so great.
"There was the great Troy Doering," he said. "He was one of the fiercest competitors I have been around. I've been exhorting my guys at Lakeland to become alphas. Troy was the personification of an alpha wolf."
Derek Lemmens 2011-present
Rhinelander's current coach is another product of the program. He played point guard on one of Rhinelander's state qualifying teams and now he's trying to get the Hodags back in that position again. Lemmens said returning to the place where he learned the game carries with it a special kind of responsibility.
"It means a lot since it's where I grew up watching and playing basketball," he said. "Rhinelander's tradition and fan base is as good as you will find and it is a special thing to be a part of. As I grew up watching Rhinelander basketball, I always wanted to be a part of the program. As a player, we did some really special things and it was always a very proud time when I could make my boyhood dream into a reality. When given the opportunity to coach in Rhinelander, I felt a great sense of pride and responsibility to continue this great tradition and add a new chapter to a storied program."
Although it's still early in his coaching career, Lemmens has already delivered a number of memorable moments.
"Our success in the last four years has been exciting and anytime you can get conference championships and regional championships you create special memories," he said. "Our last-second stand against Hortonville that broke our eight-year sectional drought was very special as well," he said. "To beat a talented team on our home court and advance to my first sectional as a coach was an exciting time for our program."
One moment that sticks with Lemmens has little to do with basketball, however. Instead, it's about the makeup of Rhinelander and the character of his players.
"Another really special moment was when David (Pokrandt, the team's manager at the time who has a cognitive disability) hit his shot against Tomahawk," he said. "I think that moment showed how special our community really was by the excitement shown for his success. This is a community that believes in more than just winning, but all the special moments that Rhinelander basketball brings."
One of the most important moments in his time so far at Rhinelander came during his very first season in charge. It was the last game in the old gymnasium. The final contest where Vander Meulen made his bones and Andres saw his son become an all-star. The house where Gleboff left the Valley two-for-two and where Fiore saw Mike Flory break record after record. The court where Jack Bennett fell in love with the game again and Fortier came home to. The place where Lemmens himself learned the game.
"One of my favorite memories comes from winning the last game ever played in the old gym," he said. "We were a struggling basketball team at the time and playing a Medford team that had beaten us by 32 in our first meeting. When we beat them on a last-second stand, it was a proud moment to know that a gym with so many great memories could end on a win."
Andy Hildebrand may be reached at [email protected].
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