Posted by Jim Pell
In writing about my memories of Coach Carlisle, I had described the meeting he had with us during the first day of 57-58 basketball practice. Dick Baker, Jack Powers, Bobby Crawford, Mike Hoepfner and I were juniors and we had spent the previous year on the B team. We were hoping and expecting that some of us would get to start on the A team as juniors. Well, some guy named Bennie Lenox was a sophomore phenom and we had heard that Coach was planning to start Bennie as a sophomore. We decided if this were true, it was not going to go unchallenged. I guess we were too full of testosterone but we were talking of staging a protest in the form of a walkout. How hilarious is that?
Coach either got wind of this or anticipated there might be a problem, so he simply called us together and told us how important it was that he put Bennie in the starting lineup from day one. He said Bennie was that good and he had to play him for the good of the team and that was just the way it was going to be. One of us would have to be on the bench as a result, but we needed to get used to the idea asap. He made no apologies and didn’t express any anger. It was just a very fine demonstration of how an anticipated problem should be handled. Don’t let things slide. Take care of a small problem before it becomes a big problem.
Dickie recently reminded me of a similar meeting Coach held for us a few months later. It was in his hotel room at the state tournament that same season. Again, he was speaking to the same group of players. He told us that the next year, which was going to be our senior year, he had some young players coming up, and if given two players of equal ability, a younger player and an older player, he would go with the younger player every time. For the good of the team, he would always have to be developing young talent to keep the program going. We were welcome to come out for the 58-59 team the next season, but it was going to be very difficult for some of us to make the team. He was breaking the news to us in a kind way that, for most of us, our high school basketball days were over. And, once again, even though I was on the receiving end of bad news for me, looking back I admire Coach so much for the way he would stand up and tell us how things were. He didn’t leave us guessing or wondering. We knew right where we stood and he was, by example, showing us how we should handle similar situations in our own lives.
After reading all the letters that were in the mailing sent to Coach Carlisle, it is evident to me that George's real legacy was not the basketball record but the impact that he made on countless young people throughout his career. And it is clear to me that he has continued to influence us even into our advanced ages. I just hope we have been and can be that type of influence on the people we have touched and will touch in our lives. Thanks for sharing this and bringing all of this to the forefront.
Posted by: Ed Davis | November 10, 2005 at 07:34 PM