Al Guthman earned 16 varsity letters back in his high school days, all 5-foot-6 and 145 pounds of him. That was back in the 1960s, when they allowed you to play baseball and run track at the same time.
"I wasn't very big but I could run," he said. "I was quite a leaper, too. I could dunk a volleyball."
Guthman, 69, is finishing off a slam dunk coaching career at
Owen-Withee (Owen, Wis.), a small Division 5 school with approximately 135 students in central Wisconsin.
"We're halfway between Eau Claire and Wausau," Guthman said. "I know those aren't big cities in most places, but they are to us."
With 708 victories, he's the winningest girls basketball coach in Wisconsin history. He's won 17 Cloverbelt Eastern Conference titles, been inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, and led the Blackhawks to eight Final 4 state appearances and four state-final games.
But he's never won a state title.
The current 15-5 Owen-Withee team, which finished its regular season Thursday, might be the favorite if not for two key starters from last year's team who were not able to return. One player was injured and the other had to work.
But no worries. The Blackhawks boast the program's career scoring and rebound leader
Jennifer Wendler, a 6-2 post who has already signed to Youngstown State.
Owen-Withee begins its playoff journey starting Tuesday. It needs five straight wins to reach state and seven to win it all.
"To be honest, it would be a storybook tale just to get to state," said Guthman, who announced before this season that this would be his last. "These kids have come a long way. They've improved so much. They have a shot."
Al Guthman, the winningest girls basketball coach in Wisconsin history, holds up a state sectional plaque. Retiring this year, Guthman is seeking his first state title.
File photo by Josh Johnson
That's all Guthman ever wanted after coaching five season for the boys team at Weyerhauser, where he started in 1971. That was the same year he met his wife, Dee. She's been there every step, victory and full court press along the way.
"She's been way more than a designated driver," he said.
When Guthman left Weyerhauser (he won 53 games there), the Owen-Withee boys' job was already taken. Girls basketball was in its second season as a sanctioned sport in Wisconsin, but he loved it from the start.
"I found the girls very enthusiastic and easy to coach — eager to learn," Guthman said. "Everything was new to them and for me, too, as a coach. It was enjoyable then and enjoyable now. I wouldn't have done it this long if it wasn't."
He coached his three daughters — Diana, Alison and Heidi — along the way. Alison came back to be his assistant.
The extended families he's made over the years would more than fill the school gymnasium.
"You don't do it for the money, but the real rewards are the building the relationships, working with the kids, watching them grow and improve and build all that confidence," Guthman said.
He plans to watch his granddaughters play, noting that he's currently 4-0 coaching against them. But who's counting?
"It will be nice to just sit back in the stands and enjoy the game as a fan," he said. "I've definitely enjoyed it as a coach. It hasn't hit yet that these are my final games. No matter what happens, I'm going to soak it all in."
Guthman has won 708 games, a Wisconsin girls basketball record.
File photo by Josh Johnson
