Legendary Boone High School coach leaves legacy on, off court
Fans, former players remember basketball leader after his death
Wayne Rickman taught his players about a lot more than basketball.
The former coach of the Boone High School Braves instilled fundamentals of teamwork and discipline, on and off the court. His coaching style led the underdog team to five state Final Four appearances and they clinched two championships in 1977 and 1983.
“That’s the key to basketball,” Rickman told the Orlando Sentinel in 2001. “You can have a lot of talent, but they have to play together. Sometimes a great individual can win a state championship, but it usually takes a team to do it.”
News of Rickman’s death on Friday at age 83 prompted many online tributes to a man fans and former players alike regard as a “legend.”
By the time Rickman retired in 1993, he racked up 512 wins throughout his coaching career, including a stint at Oak Ridge High School. He was inducted in the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame. A new gym
at Boone was dedicated in Rickman’s honor last year, behind the original gym that also bears his name.
But praise for Rickman went beyond the court. Kevin Summer played for Rickman during his last season and is now an assistant coach at Boone.
“Yes, there was a lot of success on the basketball court,” Summer said. “But if you talk to anyone who played for him, he left more of a foundation for us to be good sons, good husbands, fathers, community members, employees.”
Rickman’s son Mark took over as Boone’s coach after his dad retired and now works as the Orange County director for the nonprofit Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Mark Rickman said his father was committed to his players but always put God and his family first.
Mark Rickman recalled advice his dad got from Ivan Repass, a legend in his own right who Wayne Rickman succeeded as Boone’s coach.
As the team celebrated on the court after winning the 1977 championship, Repass told Rickman it was an opportunity for him to demonstrate humility.
“He really listened to that counsel and communicated it to his players,” Mark Rickman said. “He was always looking to do things for others instead of trying to get the glory for himself.”
Former player Willie Anderson said he woke up in tears the morning after Wayne Rickman’s passing. Anderson said Rickman was an “an absolute genius” in the way he taught the fundamentals of basketball, including jump stops, shot fakes and bounce passes.
“Coach Rickman taught us how to play and move without the basketball,” he said. “When I added that to my game — move, cut, screen and communicate — I became an even better basketball player.”
Anderson had a six-year professional career overseas, coached basketball at Boone for a while and is now the director at Q6 Elite All-Stars. It hurts to think about the loss of one of his mentors but he fondly remembers Rickman’s signature way of expressing frustration during games and practices.
“When you screwed up or did something that you weren’t supposed to do — ‘dadgummit’ was coming,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t a profanity-laced conversation — when the ‘dadgummit’ came, you knew to get things in order.”
More than 40 years after Rickman won his first state championship, some of his plays are still being used by Boone Coach Dave Martinson.
After his retirement, Rickman was a fixture at games.
Martinson said “it was cool to yell out a play and it worked” while Rickman was watching.
He’d look into the stands and Rickman would wink at him.
Rickman is survived by Jean, his wife of 56 years, children Mark and Michele, four grandchildren and a great-grandson.
A celebration service will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Worship Center of First Baptist Church in Orlando.