Published: February 18, 2008 09:59 pm            

Cass’ Ford is ready for life after basketball

Kokomo native calls it quits after 18 seasons

His playbook? Two plays he learned from Jon Kitchel.

His experience? Two years coaching junior high boys basketball.

Yet, Steve Ford's first season as Lewis Cass' girls basketball coach resulted in a 15-5 record, thanks in part to the inside duo of Angie Cree and Annie Kitchel and backed by Jamee Jones, Kim Bruner, Nicci Rice, Tammy Bowyer and Tricia Campbell.

“The only way I could compete with other coaches was to try to cultivate more knowledge through studying the game, other coaches and going to clinics,” he said.

For the 17 seasons since, that quest for knowledge has made him one of the most successful coaches ever in the Kokomo area. In 18 years, Ford has led the Lady Kings to 243 wins against 142 losses, eight sectional championships and five Mid-Indiana Conference titles.

“I spend 50 hours a week on basketball-related things: scouting, doing statistics, coaching practice and games and the whole time Julie (his wife) is sitting home in an empty house,” he said. “It’s a huge commitment, but it’s starting to become too much. I only know one way of coaching.”

The time has come for someone other than Ford to coach the Lady Kings.

“My family comes first and unfortunately, my coaching responsibility can get in the way sometimes,” said Ford, a starting guard on the Haworth basketball team that went to the semistate in 1970 and that spring helped the Huskies reach the Final Four of the state baseball tournament. “[His grandson] Morgan calls and asks if I can come to his game on Saturday afternoon and I can’t because I have to coach our team.”

Taylor coach Dennis Bentzler knows next season won’t be the same without Ford on the bench.

“You couldn’t ask for a classier guy and friend to be able to coach against,” he said. “Even when he had that good run of 10 years with great teams and talent and was better than you, he would never embarrass you or your kids.”

While at Kokomo, Mike McCroskey coached against Ford in his first season at Cass and has faced him during stints at Northwestern and Carroll.

“I have always thought Steve was one of the best coaches anywhere in the state. I don’t know how many times I’ve said he’s the best coach who has never been with the Indiana All-Stars,” McCroskey said. “I’ve always thought Cass was one of the most difficult teams to prepare for, especially defensively.

“I don’t think any coach I’ve faced in 23 years does a better job of preparing a defense to play against us. It might be a man, it might be a zone but it would be something to take away major options from you.”

Bentzler agreed.

“He always had a game plan and was probably one of the most strategic people I coached against,” he said. “When you were able to beat him, you knew you were lucky enough to beat one of the best coaches around.”

The summer commitments that began in recent years are one of the reasons Ford decided the time was right.

“When we started having games in the summer, it became too much. I talked to a coaching friend who told me he had 22 games in the summer. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but at this stage, I don’t want to do it,” he explained.

He’s considered hanging up his whistle at various times, but two years ago, he began seriously thinking about it.

“After a few years, you look at things and assess if you want to keep coaching. You see a group coming through with potential so you think, ‘I’ll see this group through,” he explained. “A few years later, there’s another group with potential. You could continue that forever.”

Events early in Ford’s career — Kokomo’s state titles in 1992 and ’93 — boosted the success he and other area coaches have had since.

“You’d drive through town and everywhere there were girls out shooting baskets. The PAL program got a huge jump start,” he said. “Kids in this area suddenly saw basketball as an opportunity.”

He knows he’s going to miss coaching girls basketball, and especially the players and coaches.

“My assistants, Phil Miller and Mike Bauer, have become best friends. It’s so much fun at practice to be with them,” he aid. “These are two guys with no egos who coach because they love the kids and the game.

“I’ll miss meeting the new kids who come through. You get to know them very well by the time they graduate. You see them in the most stressful conditions and you learn how they react and approach those conditions,” he added. “Not being a part of that is going to be tough.

“And then, there are the friends I’ve made coaching like Mike McCroskey, Denny Bentzler, Jim Swaney and Dan Dawson”

If he could ever have one team back to coach again, Ford says it would be that very first one.

“The girls are so much more athletic now than when I started. They’re tons better,” he said. “But, I would love to see how that team would turn out now with the knowledge I have of handling young women and of coaching basketball.”

John Dempsey may be contacted at (765) 854-6739 or by e-mail at john.dempsey@kokomotribune.com



Steve Ford’s coaching highlights:

Cass girls coach 1990-2008

• Record: 243-142

• Mid-Indiana Conference titles: 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001

• Sectional championships: 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005

• His all-time Lady King team:

Melanie Ford — “The player closest to my heart was my daughter and the four years coaching her were the best time I ever had.

Angie Cree — “The most gifted scorer and rebounder I coached.”

Kim Carver — “She was a very good high school post and led us to 19-3 record and No. 19 in the state in a single-class system.”

Betsy Bowser — “She was the kid who understood the game better than anyone I coached.”

Lindsay Leffert — “Tremendous athletic ability and her will to win was unbelievable.”

Susan Rush — “The perfect teammate and most unselfish player. She had a great nose for the ball.”

Lara Ritz — “The best defensive player I ever had.”

Cindy Reed — “She was a swimmer, but she was the best captain ever because she had the will to lead.”

Lindsay Chambers — “A good post player, especially on defense, who kept playing despite her knee injury and asthma.”

Nina Spitznogle — “An offensive player and a very good rebounder.”

Niki Bauer — “A good scorer and a very offensive-minded player.”

        

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