DAVID SWEET OF OTTAWA-GLANDORF

Coach Sweet graduated from Norwalk High School in 1972. In 1976 he graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.S.in Business Education. In 1979 he received his Masters Degree in Educational Administration from the University of Dayton. He has been a member of the OHSBCA since 1976. You do not find many coaches who spend their entire career at one high school. That is a refreshing bit of information. At Ottawa-Glandorf his teams won 449 games over 26 years.

Coach Sweets winning percentage of .736 places him in the top 50 of the Ohio Basketball Coaches Association’s record book. His 161 losses places him in the top 50 for the fewest number of losses. David also has a fine tournament record of 66 wins and 26 losses for a win percentage of 71.7%.

In 2004 the Ottawa-Glandorf Titans won the Division II State Championship. Coach Sweet also had a Division II State Runner Up in 1996. Other highlights of his career include the following: 5 times in the NW Regional finals, 8 District Championships, 21 Sectional Championships, 13 Western Buckeye League Championships, 23 non losing seasons, 25 years of double digit victories, his teams were often in the State Rankings.

Personal awards for Coach Sweet include being inducted into the Norwalk High School Hall of Fame, receiving the Modern Woodman Citizen of the Year Award in 2001, several coach of the year honors in the W.B.L. and in District 8. He was State Coach of the Year once and Northwest Ohio Coach of the Year three times. He coached in several all-star games including the Ohio North-South game and the Ohio-Indiana All Star game. He is also the recipient of the Bob Arnzen Longevity Award, an undefeated season in 1985-1986, being able to coach his two sons;  playing against LaBron James two straight years in the Regional Finals and making the Ottawa-Glandorf Basketball program recognized throughout the State of Ohio.

Coach Sweet’s coaching philosophy revolved around five important aspects; Keep things simple; players have to understand their roles; play extremely hard on defense; players need to be fundamentally sound; and his players needed to know they would be worked hard enough to make themselves more physically and mentally tougher than their opponents. He also believed that coaches are teachers, so teaching must be done on the floor.

Coach Sweet has been married to his wife, Rita, for 28 years. Through his 26 years as the Head Basketball Coach, Rita has always been there to observe, listen and give support. They have three children; Jason, Eric and Elizabeth. Jason and Eric played high school basketball for their dad and Elizabeth played for the successful Lady Titans program.