Gosz reflects after getting win No. 600
The question asked to Jim Gosz was simple.
Why him?
At a time when few coaches make it 10 years in the business, how has he been able to keep going for 31 seasons, the first 26 at Milwaukee
King and the last five at Dominican? How has he avoided burnout and all the other issues that adversely affect a coach's longevity?
His answer was part DNA, part good
fortune.
“I came up in a basketball family,” he said. “My dad was a coach, so I’ve always been around the game of basketball. I was never really good at playing it. I was even below average.
“I look back at my first year (of coaching). I don’t know where I’d be without Jamie Harrell passing to Eric Jackson at the end of regulation (of the state final) and Eric hitting a three-pointer. In my first year (at King) we won the state championship and I think the first five years of my career I didn’t lose five or six games. I think that gave me some street cred and that held over.”
Gosz, 58, came of age when his father, Don, was coaching the powerhouse teams at Dominican in the late 1970s and early 80s. And old heads might remember his sensational first season as King’s head coach, a season capped by an overtime victory over Wauwatosa East in the 1991 Division 1 state final.
Those moments are chapters in the career of a Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association hall of fame coach. Saturday was another.
Memories of Milwaukee King
Gosz became the seventh boys basketball coach in state history to win 600 games. The feat was accomplished with a 68-47 victory over Brookfield Academy at Dominican.
Among active coaches only Gosz and Cuba City’s Jerry Petitgoue, who has 969 wins, have won more than 600 games. Next on the active list of coaching win leaders is Blair-Taylor’s Randy Storlie (591) and Racine Lutheran’s Jeff Christensen (516).
“When I got 599 it started to hit me that “Whoa, I’m jumping into a different league,” Gosz said after the game. “All day today I kept thinking about the Rufus King era and all those kids, my former players. Without those guys I don’t know if I’d be standing here, not to take anything away from Dominican. It’s been an unbelievable role to be able to coach at two great institutions.”
Gosz also acknowledged Al Jackson, a WBCA hall of fame coach who was his long-time assistant at King. At Dominican, his right-hand man has been another WBCA hall of famer, Gary DePerry, who was an assistant at Milwaukee Vincent during its heyday.
Gosz recorded 526 wins and four state championships at King during 26 seasons. He is 74-32 at Dominican.
When he stepped down as King’s coach after the 2015-16 season, one reason he cited was the need for a change. The opportunity to return to his alma mater presented the ideal challenge.
He said the move has lengthened his career, though it has been tougher than expected.
“Division 3 is no joke,” he said. “Some of the teams in Division 3 are amazing and in the conference, the Metro (Classic), you have to be ready to play every night.”
The Metro Classic traditionally produces a state championship-caliber team every season. Two years ago it was Martin Luther. Last year and this season it has been Racine St. Catherine’s,
While Dominican hasn’t reached the state tournament under Gosz, the Knights have won 70% of their games and were regional champion three times. Last year, the team that was arguably Gosz’s best at Dominican went 20-4 and was upset in the regional final.
This year the pandemic caused a handful of players to miss time due to contact tracing. Others aren’t playing this season for one reason or other.
“Six of the top seven guys we were counting on aren’t in the program anymore,” Gosz said.
The young Dominican Knights
As a result, Dominican is young and inexperienced.
The Knights, however, had more than enough to take care of Brookfield Academy, which dropped to 1-11 after the loss Saturday.
Due to the pandemic there was little fanfare for the accomplishment. After shaking hands with Brookfield Academy coach Pat Clarey, Gosz went to the stands and gave his wife, Maribeth, a kiss. After posing for pictures, his brother, Mike, handed him a telephone and Gosz chatted with his father for a couple of minutes.
Thirty-one seasons, 738 games: so much went into reaching one win.
“This game and coaching has ate up so many people and destroyed a lot of people. I’ve still got some time, knock on wood, to go out of this on my own terms,” he said.