Following the example perfectly
Like Fischer, Claassen makes gracious exit
We might not know Joel Claassen as a hall of fame basketball coach without Dick Fischer.
The first step toward achieving greatness is simply being given a chance. That is what Fischer represents to the long-time Pius XI basketball coach. Almost 40 years ago, Fischer was hearing good things about a social studies teacher at the school who played bas
ketball and invited Claassen to a practice.
Fischer, Pius’ girls basketball coach at the time, was looking for an assistant and after Claassen showed an interest in the job the position was his. The 23year-old took the job and ran with it.
“He was in charge of defense and he was so good with the kids,” Fischer recalled. “He came up with so many creative drills and ways of explaining things that it was obvious that this man is a good coach.”
The rest is history, some of the best the state has seen. Three years later Claassen took over the Pius girls program and began a career that has produced almost 650 wins, a state-record 92-game winning streak, 14 state titles and success with both the girls and boys teams.
Claassen, who on Monday announced his retirement effective the end of the season, has been so good that one could assume he would have enjoyed great success elsewhere, but there is no guarantees in that regard. Success in coaching is not only about how well you teach the game, but also how well you fit into the culture of the school. There really is something to be said about being the right person for the job.
So when you find that perfect fit, you have to do what it takes to keep that person. That was Fischer’s thinking. When he retired from coaching after the 198384 season, he did so to devote more time to his young family, but he also realized that Claassen’s time had come.
“I became aware of the fact that he was interested in becoming a head coach and also I knew there were a couple of schools interested in hiring him and quite honestly I didn’t want Pius to lose him,” Fischer said.
“A valuable teacher like that and a good coach to boot is just unbelievable. Stepping aside and letting him take over is probably one of the smartest things I ever did. It was a great gift to Pius, a great blessing to Pius.”
The Popes had already won a handful of state titles before Claassen’s run as head coach, but his years coaching the girls team represented a golden era for all girls sports at the school. Girls basketball, with its aura of invincibility, set the tone.
Fischer left Claassen with a talented squad that included Heidi Bunek, an All-American who went on to play at Notre Dame. The team won its fourth straight state title in Claassen’s first year.
He would later enjoy a strong run coaching the Pius boys. In his 16 years, the Popes went to the state tournament in 2005 and ’12, won seven conference titles and produced a handful of Division I players.
That’s a ton of success and it wouldn’t have happened without Fischer’s gracious exit, a gesture that was never lost on Claassen. That is something he thought about as he planned his departure from the game. It was time to pay it forward and make way for Dan Carey, a long-time assistant and Pius graduate who has been announced as Claassen’s successor.
“He’s a hot commodity. He’s coached Division I, he’s coached the professional (Wisconsin) GLO team and I just didn’t want to lose him,” he said. “I wanted to make sure he stayed with the program and I felt it was important to make a decision now.”
If the move works out just half as well for Carey as it did Claassen back in the day then the Popes basketball team will be in good shape for years to come.
Claassen’s first nine seasons ended with state championship and during one stretch of almost four years the team didn’t lose a game. The 92-game winning streak started in February of 1988 and lasted until December of 1991.
Later he won seven conference titles as the boys coach and led the program to the state semifinals twice.
“I’ll be honest. I think Joel was more creative than I was. He experimented, he evolved as we all hope to do,” said Fischer, who often volunteers at the concession stand during home basketball games. “I kept thinking he got better and better and better every year. He was really good to start with.”
Claassen was so good he achieved a rarity in coaching. He is leaving on his own terms, and better yet, his choice for his successor will take over.
“I played college hoops and I played a lot of softball and baseball and I learned there that I would rather leave to early than too late,” he said. “Because (if it’s) too late you show your age and (if it’s) too early you still feel good about yourself.
“I feel that same sense here. I don’t want to go too long where it doesn’t feel good anymore. I’d rather go out in this manner, feeling good and recognizing it’s a pretty good run.”