Indiana
coaching legend Bill Green, who died late Thursday at age 77 from a
massive stroke, will long be remembered not only for his record six
state basketball championships, but for his lifetime influence on
players.
Dave Colescott, who led
Marion (Ind.)
to state titles in 1975 and 1976, told MaxPreps, "I'm not doing very
well. I'm going to miss him a lot. He was a great man. You've got to
have a leader and as a person he helped me a lot. He tried to make me a
better person and player. I hate to lose a person so important and
influential in my life.
"He started cutting my hair in the eighth
grade (when long hair was the style). He told me that rednecks ruled
and he was a redneck. He was a lot better basketball coach than he was a
barber."
Ironically, Bill Green had red hair.
After
leaving Marion, Green returned to lead the Giants to three more state
titles (1985-86-87), which tied the state record for consecutive
championships. That team was led by All-State performers Lyndon Jones
and Jay Edwards.
Garry Donna, longtime publisher of Hoosier
Basketball Magazine, called Green "one of a kind. He's known by the
general public for how many state championships he won, but among the
coaches and hard-core fans he was known for his match-up zone. He was an
innovator in that sense. He had the players, but you've also got to be
able to coach and be a motivator.
"He was the same person after
winning his sixth state championship that he was before he won his
first. My biggest memory is the day that the IHSAA passed the rule to
have a class tournament. He was interviewed and said, 'They just took
the state out of the state finals.' "
When Green was coaching at
Indianapolis Cathedral,
he was offered the freshman coaching position at the University of
Oklahoma, according to Donna. The pay was so low that he couldn't afford
to take the job, but he recommended his freshman coach, John McLeod,
who took the position. His freshman team, featuring future NBA star,
Alvan Adams, beat the varsity in their annual pre-season scrimmage. He
and Adams were linked closely and two years later Adams left college for
the Phoenix Suns - under the condition that McLeod would be named head
coach.
Timing is everything, Donna noted.
George McGinnis
was Green's most famous player. Before he left for a brilliant career
at Indiana University and professional basketball, McGinnis teamed with
talented Steve Downing to help Green notch his first state title at
Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) in 1969.
McGinnis
noted, "Obviously, he was one of the giants of Indiana high school
basketball. He was a good person. He had a good effect on so many kids.
They all loved him."
Green had left his retirement home in Sebring, Fla., to visit family and friends in the Indianapolis area where he died.
McGinnis
said that his former coach had visited the 1969 Washington players
twice and had planned one more visit before he headed back for Florida.
He
revealed, "He brought memorabilia with him and everybody took some
home. I got the original eight millimeter film from the championship
game."
Colescott summed up Green's impact when he noted, "He had a lot of friends in a lot of places. We loved him a lot."
