Jones returns to assist former player
Almost 20 years after Lou Chapman laced them up in high school, he can still hear his coach.
“Nice guys finish last,” is one of Phil Jones’ sayings that comes to mind. Another gem Chapman also recalls his former high school coach preaching when he wanted the team to really dig in and play fast was “There is a lazy person on every team, so just keep running. Find the lazy (one).”
Good coaches stay in your head forever.
Chapman, like many of us who played a sport for an extended time, knows this from experience. Nearly 20 years ago, the West Allis Central girls basketball coach was the standout point guard for Jones on a Milwaukee Bay View squad that reached the Division 1 state final.
“The same intensity he brought in ’99, he brings today in 2017,” Chapman said. “That’s remarkable. When I get that old I hope I can still have that kind of passion and that kind of intensity.”
Today the 70-year-old shows that level commitment as a volunteer assistant coach for the Central girls.
The job wasn’t supposed to be anything too time consuming, maybe some scouting or helping out a little here and there. The plan wasn't for this to be an everyday commitment, Then the season started, and guess what?
“He’s there every day,” Chap-
man said.
A season that was supposed to be a break for a man who has coached almost every year since 1972 has turned into a rewarding experience. He started working with the Bullldogs defense, but as the season wore on he’s become more involved with the offense.
This year marked the first time he coached girls extensively since he was the JV girls coach at Bay View in 1976.
“They’re more receptive. They listen better,” Jones said. “I found that out a long time ago and it holds true today.”
Jones was ready for a change.
This time a year ago, Jones was wrapping up a six-year run at Shorewood, where he coached the Greyhounds to three straight winning seasons before the program dipped to 6-17 last year. In May, Jones stepped down.
“I told my family when it wasn’t fun, I was going to get out of it,” he said, “so I felt I had to leave Shorewood. It wasn’t fun.”
Jones hasn’t ruled a return as a head coach, although he wonders if there will be much demand for someone his age. If we’ve seen the last of Jones as a head coach, then he should be congratulated on a heck of a run.
During the City Conference’s most recent heyday of the 1990s and early 2000s, He was right there with King’s Jim Gosz, Washington Jim Gordon, Vincent’s Tom Diener and Tech’s Win Parkinson during a stretch when the league produced 12 straight years of state finalists and sent numerous teams to the state tournament.
Jones’s team went 351242 during his 27 seasons at Bay View. During his final 15 years the Redcats went 236-109 (.684), a run that included a Big Nine title in 1990, City crowns in 1999 and 2000, four trips to the state tournament and a state runner-up finish in 1999.
That ’99 team was a fun squad to watch. It rattled teams with relentless pressure on defense. That led to plenty of fast breaks on the other end where Chapman might toss an alley-oop to Larry House or kick out to Matt Jones for a three.
That team lost, 73-68, to Racine Case in the title game, a loss that denied the coach one of the few pieces missing from his resume.
“I haven’t had a lot of great players, but I’ve had a lot of great adults, people who have been very successful in life,” said Jones, who has 446 wins. “The thing I like about what my kids achieved playing basketball is they learned to work with others, learn responsibility, get along with others.”
A couple of his former players are head coaches in the area.
Branden Joseph, coach of the area’s top-ranked team, Destiny, played for Jones. Darryl Longley coaches the Bay View boys. And there is Chapman, who got his first coaching job working with Jones during his three years at Milwaukee Marshall.
The Bulldogs (3-19, 0-14 Greater Metro) are very much a work in progress, but Chapman, who is in his second season, is up to the challenge.
“One of the things I learned from him is how to work. His work ethic is off the charts,” he said. “He would work 365 days a year, 24 hours a day if he could, so when I was an assistant it taught me how to work.
“He always told me that coaching is more than coaching . ... He always stressed working hard and being well rounded and do a lot.”