Rank the Coaches...

[Peake]

I don't care how much little talent McClain has/had, they had Jackson, and some coaches go careers with seeing a player like that.

Since 1998
Chesapeake has 7 or 8 OVC titles
5 District Titles
2 Regional Finals Apperances

South Webster had two players that flat out dominated, were they really a strong program for the past 10 years? No.

NA- Tell me what NA has done to rival Chesapeake in the past 10 years.

White Oak-They were early, but not now.

[hook em horns]

Top 6 Bases on Accomplishments
1. Gary Kellough - Chillicothe (A Div. II State title trumps all)
2. Tom Barrick - Wheelersburg
3. Norm Persin - Oak Hill
4. Dave Young - North Adams
5. Larry Jordan - Jackson
6. Rick Van Matre - Greenfield McClain

Top 6 I would want my son to play for
1. Rick Van Matre - Greenfield McClain (Maximizes talent the best)
2. Tom Barrick - Wheelersburg
3. Rob Beucler - Eastern Brown
4. John Lawhorn - Peebles
5. Jeff Caldwell - Racine Southern
6. Blaine Maddox - Warren

[avalanche]

I played for Norm Persin back in the 90's, and if you don't want your son to learn the game from him, then I would love an explination. I have a lot of respect for Barrick, Oz, and others, but to continue repeating how much Van Matre gets the most out of his players is rediculous without mentioning coaches like Norm and Barrick. McClain is a d2 school, you draw from how many kids, and you are telling me it is harder to get talent then at Wheelersburg or Chesapeake?

I can name a single player for Chesapeake who played D1 (Rick Edwards) under Norm at Chesapeake, and you are telling me a man who coached Dante Jackson has trouble getting talent out. Give me a break.

If you want your son to play for anyone I would suspect it would be Oz. The man tutored half of the successful coaches in the area.

I don't know how a state title can trump everyone either. Name a coach in this group who has ever coached a team with the amount of talent as Chilli had.

This is like saying well Lloyd McGuffin (former Huntington, WV coach) is a better coach then say Barrick, because he won state titles and Barrick hasn't. Oh, I forgot to tell you I coached OJ Mayo, Patrick Patterson, Chris Early, and on and on.

[Pol pot]

In 27 years Rick VanMeter has coached Dante Jackson for four years and some here discredit him because he coached thbe kid? Hell Webster had more DI kids on one team than Rick has coached in 27 years but since he coached Jackson he is obviously overrated! JOKE!

What ought to be focused on here is most of these guys exhibit the same characteristics are friends andseveral have worked together over the years.

[avalanche]

Discredit? He is being crownd the almighty because of lack of talent. How many "great" basketball players have come through the Wheelersburg, Ironton, and Chesapeake programs? I bet you could count on one hand for each one.

There is no way to distinguish that Van Metre gets more out of his kids then Norm, or Barrick, or Oz, or someone else.

That is a rediculous post...period.

He did coach a legit, big time d1 player, and he did what before him? How many regionals did he make before Jackson?

He is a good coach no doubt. I have seen him coach at the Convo on many occassions, but I am not buying any of the claims that he gets more out of his kids then _insertname_____

[Ironman92]

Whiteoak has 3 District Championships in the last 10 years, were completely hosed in 2005 in the most homerific officiating I've ever witnessed to keep them from a 4th. They have one state appearance and 2 trips to the regional finals....winning 1.

Last 10 years:

2008....lost in sectional final to Manchester in a tight one...Manchester went to district finals.

2007...lost in sectional semis to Miller on a prayer of a bank shot from the hip with 1 seconds left from a player who hadn't scored all game.....Man, shoulda coulda woulda that year....would've had a .500 Webster team in the district finals

2006... lost in district championship to state champion South Webster

2005....lost in district finals as mentioned above

2004....lost in district semis on OT or double OT....missing an open 4 foot bank shot from our best scorer to end the regulation

2003...lost in regional finals with a team of only 1 returning starter

2002....lost in state semis.....with no rotation player over 6'2

2001....lost in district semis

2000....lost in regional semis

1999.....were 20-1 and lost in sectional final to....North Adams

Chesapeake with a great number of district titles and a few regional wins is up there with Ironton and Burg.

[gymratt]

Peake, I agree with you on this , but I would add Vinton County on that list along with their coach Matt Combs.He has built a nice program there.

I don't think you can put a D-2 team that beats up on D-3 and 4 opponents and then loses in the tourney on the ELITE list. Sure they are a very GOOD program but they are not GREAT. No disrespect intended. Having a good program is something to be proud of but they are not McClain, Chillicothe, Wheelersburg, Chesapeake, Oak Hill, or even Southeastern if you go back a little ways. JMO

[coop]

What has Oak Hill done? Before Norm? I dont remember them doing much at all....?

[clemente]

I second that chicken coop...What has Oak Hill done other than the past two seasons???

On a sidenote, I admire the way Coach Van Matre coaches his defense with all that intensity..It is true they do not have the most talented kids in the world but they can guard you and are fundamentally sound which is a testament to this program from the varsity level down to the grade school level...

Coach Barrick I feel is has to be at the top of the list as well, he is a great X's and O's coach

[Pol pot]

Over the past 25 years Wheelersburg has had more DI players than anyone else in SE Ohio. Great Coaching in Hughes, Dr. Love, and Tom, but some great players to go with them.

And Rick did not "start" coaching with Dante, he has been very successful before. And if you are going to state his tournament failures then let's look at how many times Norm has failed to get to the State Tournament.

[Ironman92]

However many years he has coached.

He is something like 0-8 in regional finals....which means he can't get over the big hump....but is likely the leader in regional wins.

I think more impressive than his coaching success at Peake is his durability to drive from Oak Hill to Chesapeake for all those years....geesh what a hideous trip.

[Kickinurz]

If you look at assistant coaches .Jeff Miller is good along with Scott Legg and Jeff Holbert. Are there any other ones out there? Go Braves!

[Ironman92]

Mike Jordan....Jackson
Max Morrow.....JV Jackson (a lot of Dustan Ford in his coaching)

Nathan Copas.....North Adams

[avalanche]

I've always thought Bryan "Cannonball" Wells, was a coach that never got credit where it was due.

If I recall he had several undefeated JV seasons, and if there were JV OVC titles, he never lost one in his career.

I played for him and he was an exceptional motivator, who does an excellent job preparing his players for opponents.

Someone once told me that he brakes down more film then all of the coaches combined in all of our programs.

I know people will say, well he was a Norm product, but very very rarely was Norm at a JV practice, and when it came to game Norm didn't say a word.

[Jake Roberts]

Peake, I agree with you on this , but I would add Vinton County on that list along with their coach Matt Combs.He has built a nice program there.

I don't think you can put a D-2 team that beats up on D-3 and 4 opponents and then loses in the tourney on the ELITE list. Sure they are a very GOOD program but they are not GREAT. No disrespect intended. Having a good program is something to be proud of but they are not McClain, Chillicothe, Wheelersburg, Chesapeake, Oak Hill, or even Southeastern if you go back a little ways. JMO

Very dumb statement. You bad mouth Vinton County because they lose in the tournament? Well, I guess any program that has not won a state title is a joke then.

[Spartan]

There have been dozens of diamonds in the rough who never got any credit because they coached in a bad situation.

But if I can chip in, if you ever saw Logan Elm play, just not this year or last, Doug Stiverson can flat out coach.

[trojandave]

One point about having Dante Jackson for four years, did anyone notice the lack of talent around Jackson.......he consistenty accounted for about 75% of the points for McClain, yet in his final 2 years the Tigers lost only 1 regular season game, two SCOL titles, with a regional appearance. Van Matre basically did it with one outstanding player.

I have watched McClain many times over the course of Van Matre's 27 years......I go to the tournaments regardless of whether Portsmouth is still in it or not......and I have been to McClain HS a good number of times to watch the Tigers.......and I can say from this vantage point that I haven't seen a lot of quality talent coming down the McClain pike.......mostly kids that do what the coach wants, play fundamentally sound basketball, and get in your face on defense.

Another point about Van Matre.......look at the McClain program before he took over........it was in bad shape........and he turned it around immediately. Wheelersburg was very good before Barrick and Chesapeake was winning before Persin........both are outstanding coaches, but they took over programs that were in far better shape than McClain was when Van Matre took the reigns.

And 27 years later.........only 1 losing season from what was once a perennially losing program.

[trojandave]

I also want to second the nomination for Stiverson of Logan Elm.......LE was not a prominent program before he took over.......and since then the Braves are regularly a threat for the regionals........LE beat Dante Jackson, McClain and Van Matre in the district tournament Dante's junior year. They then lost to Zanesville in 2OT in the regional semifinal.

If I recall correctly Jackson had only 11 points in that game.......one of the few games that Dante didn't score a bunch.......McClain only scored about 40 points total.

[Jim Rome]

I've always thought Bryan "Cannonball" Wells, was a coach that never got credit where it was due.

If I recall he had several undefeated JV seasons, and if there were JV OVC titles, he never lost one in his career.

I played for him and he was an exceptional motivator, who does an excellent job preparing his players for opponents.

Someone once told me that he brakes down more film then all of the coaches combined in all of our programs.

I know people will say, well he was a Norm product, but very very rarely was Norm at a JV practice, and when it came to game Norm didn't say a word.

Are you serious with this? Does anyone care about JV? OVC JV Titles???

[M0TIVAT0R]

You have to put South Gallia's JV coach up there at the top. He is a great motivator, as proven by his ability to get kids to run through brick walls for him. I think I read on here that he once won 38 games in a row. He apparently is a great one, and HE doesn't mind saying so on this site.