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May 28, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels February 28, 2004 What's the deal with Ashland boys' basketball? More options, other factors have led to current slump By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Imagine a night when prep basketball fans have to arrive at the gym during the JV game just to claim a seat for the varsity action. The stands aren't just crowded, they're at capacity and late-comers have to be turned away. Imagine the home team goes undefeated in conference play one year and 33-1 in league over two years, bringing back the fourth-place trophy from the state tournament. Imagine 10 consecutive winning seasons that included seven playoff berths and less than 20 losses in Mountain Avenue gym. It was the 1980s and the heyday of Gerry Hauck's 17-year tenure as the head boys' basketball coach at Ashland High. "The gym was packed. The energy was awesome," said Greg White, a senior starting forward/guard on the '86 Grizz that was 16-0 in Southern Oregon Conference play and earned fourth place at the state tournament. "It was a different environment. It's kind of disappointing to go to the games and be able to sit anywhere now." Times have changed. The Grizzlies haven't experienced the playoffs since the '91-'92 season, when the team also recorded its most-recent winning record - 13-11 overall. "You go through trends in schools, if you look at them long enough," said 13-year Ashland High Athletic Director Jim Nagel. "When I first came here, people were talking about Ashland football not winning in Grants Pass in 33 years. That was back when basketball was king." But Nagel pushed the football team through a 1-8 season in 1984 and into the playoffs the following year. As football picked up the steam that would carry the program into the 21st century, basketball peaked and then faded. The trend As much as Ashland sports aficionados hope for the return of the boys' basketball success of yesteryear, in reality, the Grizzlies have never maintained a winning basketball program on the boys' side. Aside from Hauck's stint as the leader of the team-to-beat in the SOC, the best days of boys' basketball in Ashland had passed before Hitler fell from power. The Grizzlies have had 19 state playoff appearances since the program began in 1911, including an eight-year streak in the 1930s that topped out with a fourth-place finish at the state tournament in 1935. But since Ashland went 21-8 and won its second state boys' basketball title in 1944 - the first championship came in 1922 - the program has suffered through several winless seasons and has been unable to retain most coaches for more than a handful of seasons. Hauck's 17-year ride was more than a decade longer than any other Grizz boys' basketball coach on record. "As you can see, we don't have a rich tradition in basketball," Nagel said. "I think kids get a dream in their minds and they come to high school with this idea of success. That's why people say success breeds success. Probably the kids at the middle school haven't had that dream of winning a state championship or even a district championship." When it was good In the wake of 12 consecutive losing seasons, the 202 victories Hauck tallied look like solid gold. "Hauck started to turn things around in the early '80s and it started to be more competitive," White said. "It was exciting. We were in the best shape of any team in the league. Nobody could run with us." Hauck's teams used a run-press style of basketball that just wore down opposing teams. "Everything was push the ball up the floor," Hauck said. "It was fun. If we didn't get 20 (points) a quarter, we were disappointed. I think the kids really enjoyed it." The program also maintained strong relations with the junior high basketball programs and built a continuity in play across the grade levels. "His kids were groomed up from the sixth-grade level playing Grizzly basketball," said Manny Crump, who was an assistant coach with the Grizzlies for 20 years before he stepped down in '02. "He started those kids off at the right level and kind of grew them into the high school level." In the time since Since then, the Ashland boys' basketball team has fallen back into the historical Grizz trend - scoring a few wins a season but not rallying into the playoffs. While wins have been hard to come by, most Grizz followers say the effort has always been there. "You can't really blame anything," said ESPN Sports Radio broadcaster Pete Belcastro, who has been covering SOC basketball for the past 13 years. "They had good, solid kids who, a lot of times, were outmatched." Between the changes in the coaching staff, students' desires to have fun in extracurricular programs without committing to a year-round activity, and the increase in sports offerings at Ashland High, the Grizz basketball program has fallen into dire times. The team had regularly fielded just over 40 players a year, until the SOC cut the sophomore basketball teams. With just three teams - varsity, JV and freshman - the Grizzlies currently net about 35 basketball players on the boys' side. "The rule of thumb, whenever you take over a program is it takes at least three years to even see the beginning of change," current Grizz head coach Rick Cornelius said. "I'd say right now we're at a place where the consistency is there on the part of the kids now and we're starting to get boys out who've had some experience playing younger ball." However, the disparity in size and numbers on the bench between Ashland and the top teams in the SOC is glaring. It's tough when Grizzly players are regularly matched up against opponents who are three or four inches taller on average or playing teams with a more experienced set of reserves. "We have limited resources," Cornelius said. "We're a small 4A high school. You only have so many resources at your disposal. But I tend to believe, if a kid wanted to play basketball and had been exposed to it, [he] would do so." Developing an interest Cultivating a group of players from the fifth or sixth grade, first through AAU programs and then through freshman and JV high school teams, is one of the best ways to build a strong program at the varsity level. However, because the Grizzlies have weathered three coaches in nine years, the program has lacked a steady liaison to guide younger players onto the Ashland team. The impact of that contact between the high school and the AAU programs is evident on the Grizzly girls' team. "Steve Humann has done a real good job down there with the AAU girls," Nagel said of the Ashland girls' head coach who led the Grizzlies to the state playoffs in his first two years at the helm. "Steve started with that program many years ago, before he was head coach. Now there's a definite continuity. The boys haven't really had that, though it's not for lack of effort." Now, Cornelius meets with the AAU coaching staff, is involved in hiring of coaches to some extent and attends all the AAU games he can so he has contact with future Grizzly basketball players. "In order for these programs to be successful, you have to reach those younger kids," Crump said. "You've got kids coming up who know how to win now." Moving forward Though the Grizz glory days in Mountain Avenue gym will probably not make a quick comeback, those involved with the program believe they understand what it takes to become a competitive team in the SOC again. "In football, I think we just out-worked the other teams for many years," said Nagel, who coached the Grizz gridders for 20 years, leading the team to three state championships. "That made up the difference and made up for maybe a lack of size. I think that's what our basketball program has to do." It also takes time and commitment from players. "And that's the rub," Cornelius said. "The rub is, given the limited resources we have for a group of boys, to be able to compete with the experience and the athleticism of the upper level programs - therein lies the issue." But with a group of committed freshmen moving up through the ranks and talented sophomores and juniors who will return to the Grizz team next year, perhaps Cornelius' leadership will spark the beginning of that winning feeling Ashland basketball has been missing. "When you're grading in terms of wins and losses, Ashland hasn't had much. If you're showing it by kids learning and enjoying the experience, that's different," Belcastro said. "I thought they played together and they played hard. To me, they do all the things a basketball team should do." Only time will tell what they can do. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams