Coaches Association Newsletter January 2022

OHSBCA Announce Hall of Fame Inductees 2022
The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association (OHSBCA) is proud to announce the coaches and date for the Hall of Fame Class for 2022. This year, the association is inducting five coaches into the Hall of Fame. The five high school coaches being inducted are John Cullen of Canfield and South Range, Ed Heintschel of Toledo St. John’s Jesuit, Mary Jo Huismann of Mother of Mercy, Dave Schlabach of Berlin Hiland, and the final inductee is Carol Smith of Walnut Ridge.

The Induction Ceremony for the Thirty-Fourth Class will be at the Columbus Marriott University Area at 3100 Olentangy River Road in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, April 23, 2022 at 5:30 PM.

Tickets may be obtained by Calling Hall of Fame Director Paul Wayne at 419-261-2547 or by email at wayno14@embarqmail.com.

Download PDF VersionJohn Cullen, Canfield & South Range
John Cullen grew up in Canal Fulton Ohio with his parents Nell and John B. Cullen (the town Mayor) and his sister Diane and his brother Bill. He graduated in 1968 from Northwest High School and headed to Kent State University with the goal of becoming a teacher/coach. He graduated from Kent State with a B.S. in Education degree. He also received his Masters in Secondary Administration from Youngstown State University.

Cullen then accepted his first job at Brookfield High School in Trumbull County. He was an assistant there for five years and was lucky enough to be influenced at a young age by some phenomenal coaches. Larry Seafert his Brookfield Mentor won 4 District Titles with a trip to Columbus in 1976. His other influential coaches were Ed McCluskey of Farrell Pa. (7 State Titles), Charlie Huggins (3 State Titles) and Tom Titus who he replaced at his longest tenure at Canfield High School.

Then in 1978 coach Cullen accepted his first head coaching job at Joseph Badger High School where he started four sophomores and was greeted to a blistering 1-18 record. Those same kids went on to regionals as Juniors and to the State Finals as Seniors. This season was the year of Cullen’s biggest error in his career. That was the first-year freshman were eligible and he did not play Dale Blaney as a freshman who went on to make the Los Angeles Lakers and is considered to be the best player to have played in the Youngstown area.

The next year 1979 Cullen was recruited to come back to Brookfield high school where he spent the next three seasons and won 2 district titles. The summer of 1982 he was asked to apply at Canfield High School. He spent the next 28 years as a Cardinal. He had a record of 433-190 at Canfield with 5 District championships and 11 league titles. He will forever be grateful to Canfield for being selected to the Hall of Fame and having the court named after him.

Next in 2010 Coach Cullen went to Youngstown State University and coached on the Women’s Staff of Bob Boldon who is now at Ohio University. He did this for 3 years and when the staff went to OU, Cullen stayed in Youngstown and went to South Range High School as their Boy’s coach. He stayed there for the next 8 years and had a record of 126-67. He retired in 2021 and was asked to help Springfield Local to assist Jeff Brink as he came back to his home school. All told, this all adds up to 39 years as a head coach and 10 as an assistant. I can honestly say that as a teacher and a coach I never got tired, burned out or looked elsewhere for a job. This has always been a labor of love! I used coaching to make me a better teacher and I used teaching to make me a better coach.

Cullen is very grateful for the several awards he received as a coach. At the state level he was awarded the prestigious Paul Walker Award, the National High School Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the year and also the Midwest United States 9 state region Coach of the Year. He coached in the North-South All-Star Game in 1993. He received the Bob Arnzen award and was District 1 Coach of the year 3 times. Locally he received the Mahoning Valley Coaches Association award 23 times and was selected as a Curbstone Coaches Association Hall of Fame award winner. He has retired with a 597-295 Record. John is very proud to have 58 former assistants or players who have become head coaches at both the high school, college and professional levels.

John would like to thank his wonderful wife Roseann for sharing the last 21 years of his coaching career with him. We all know how hard that job is for wives but it is great to share the experience with them. He would also like to thank the loyal assistant coaches that made all of this possible along with the administrators, players, parents and fans that provided our teams with the community spirit that makes high school basketball the great experience it can be when everyone is on board.

Ed Heintschel, Toledo St. John's Jesuit
Ed Heintschel was born and raised on the eastside of Toledo. His mother was widowed at the age of 30, and she raised four children aged 7, 5, 2, 5 months at the time of her husband’s death. Her strength and determination were a source of inspiration to her family. A 1968 graduate of St. Francis de Sales High School, Coach played basketball at St. Francis and played in the first ever varsity basketball game between St. Francis and St. John’s during his senior year. He began college at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana; he was a member of the freshman basketball team. After his sophomore year, he transferred to the University of Toledo where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Upon graduation from the University of Toledo, Coach taught one year at OLPH Grade School in Toledo and was a volunteer coach at St. John’s for its “B” freshman basketball team. The next year, St. John’s hired him as an English teacher and junior varsity basketball coach. After five years, in 1979, Coach was named head coach and athletic director at St. John’s.

Inauspicious would be a good word to describe Ed Heintschel’s first year as varsity basketball coach. The team limped to a 4-15 record; however, the next year the team improved to 17-4 and won the school’s first Toledo City League title. This was the first of 17 League titles the St. John’s won under Coach Heintschel’s guidance. His teams won 16 District titles: ‘91, ‘92, ‘93, ‘94, ‘96, ‘98, ‘02, ‘03, ‘04, ‘06, ‘07, ‘09, ‘10, ‘15, ‘17, ‘18. With 6 Regional championships in ‘93, ‘96, ‘03, ‘04, ‘06, and ‘09, the Titans made 6 trips to Columbus, finishing as State runner up in ‘93, ‘96, and ‘04.

Coach Heintschel finished his career with 725 wins and 224 losses. The wins rank him 4th all time in the state of Ohio 1st among Division I coaches. His teams have won 20 or more games 18-times and, at one point, a string of 7 consecutive seasons. He had plenty of help with outstanding assistant coaches and a plethora of great players and kids. Eight players were named First Team All-Ohio. Twenty players went on to play Division I college basketball and two played in the NBA. A very large number played at Division II and III colleges as well. Countless other players contributed with less roles but equally important for the team’s success.

Ed Heintschel has three children - Damion, 45, is an English teacher in Seattle and has a son Oscar, 13. Coach’s daughter - Dr. Kim Ramadan, is married, living in Chicago; she and Sherif have two children, Rylee, 6 and Ryan, 2. His son Ted also lives in Chicago with his wife Chelsea and their two children: Eli, 2, and Roslyn, 8 months. Coach’s wife passed away in 2002 after a three-year battle with breast cancer. She was the ideal coach’s wife who balanced work and family while dealing with a hectic schedule.

Coach Heintschel is humbled to be a part of this great Hall of Fame with all its outstanding members.

Mary Jo Huismann, Mother of Mercy
Studying Mary Jo Huismann’s resume is enough to make your eyes swim: The storied high school basketball coach has a career record of 717 wins, 384 losses. Six hundred and ninety-six of those wins came at Mother of Mercy, where she coached for 46 years. Think about that for a minute: Over a span of almost five decades, her teams won two-thirds of their games. They had twelve 20-win seasons along the way, including eight consecutive years of 20 wins or more (1988-95). Under Coach Huismann, Mercy won 18 Greater Cincinnati League championships, 21 Sectional titles, and 15 District crowns. In 15 Regional appearances, they won the title three times. Three times (in 1980, ’89, and ’90), they finished state runner-up.

These numbers—as impressive as they are—tell only part of the story, though. To understand the impact Huismann has had on high school sports, you need to look a little closer and dig a little deeper. And you need to begin at the beginning.

When Huismann graduated from Mother of Mercy in 1965, she did so without ever having played a single game of high school basketball. It wasn’t for lack of desire. She loved sports, especially basketball and softball, and she thrived on the competition, and the camaraderie, that team sports offer. It was a lack of opportunity, plain and simple. In the 1960s, girls had precious few chances to play organized sports. Mercy didn’t even have a basketball program until the year following Huismann’s graduation. Neither did Iowa’s Briar Cliff College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. After college, Husimann returned to Ohio, and from that point on, she made it her life’s work to create opportunities for young women in sports. And what a life’s work it has been.

In 1969, Huismann became a graduate assistant basketball coach at the University of Cincinnati (UC), earning a master’s degree in education in addition to her coaching duties. She later coached for two seasons at Capital University. In 1972, she accepted a position—several positions, really—at her alma mater. Huismann joined Mother of Mercy as the Athletic Director (AD), full-time teacher (of both physical education and health), and head coach of volleyball, basketball, and track and field. As AD, a position she held for 39 years, Huismann helped develop a comprehensive and expansive athletic program, which rapidly grew to include 11 sports and 22 teams. For the first two years of her Mercy career, Huismann also volunteered as the head women’s coach at UC, driving from Westwood to Clifton each evening for practices. She volunteered because if she hadn’t, UC wouldn’t have had a coach at all, and the team would have been forced to disband. For Huismann, that reality was unacceptable. Throughout the 1970s, Huismann also played and coached women’s competitive recreational softball.

By the 1980s, Huismann began to focus her energies more narrowly on basketball, the sport that was, and is, her passion. At a time when very few people cared much about womens’ and girls’ basketball, she worked tirelessly to change the metaphorical landscape. She organized summer leagues to allow more girls to play the game and she helped bring AAU programs to Cincinnati. She even recruited many high school coaches to act as volunteer coaches for over 20 AAU teams. During her career, Huismann has served on the National AAU Advisory Board and directed two National AAU Championships (1991 /1996). In addition, for the past ## years, she has conducted camps for elementary-aged girls to provide them with fundamentally sound instruction in the basics of basketball.

Given Huismann’s successes on the court, it’s no surprise that she has been asked to coach a plethora of All-Star Teams. Highlights include the 2003 McDonalds All American game in Cleveland; the Ohio/Michigan Game in 1988; the Ohio North/South Game in 1989; and many City of Cincinnati All-Star Games. Huismann also was selected to coach at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) national camps in Rochester and Chattanooga in 1992 and 1994.

Despite the many responsibilities she has shouldered, Huismann clearly prefers her role as “coach” to any other. She’d rather be in the gym, running a practice or directing a game, than anywhere else. And yet she understood, early on, that to create athletic opportunities for girls—to advocate for women’s sports in general—she had to become involved with organizations that support young women and their athletic efforts. She spent over 30 years as the Girls Coaches President of District 16 Coaches Association and over 30 years as a Girls Advisory member for the State Basketball Coaches Association. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, and since 1994, she has been a board member and Co-Chair of the Event Committee for the Women’s Sports Association of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Huismann’s efforts, and her achievements, have not gone unnoticed. She was named National Coach of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1996. She was a Girls Basketball Coach Finalist from the National Federation of High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) in 2003. In addition, she was named the Ohio High School Basketball State Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1988, 1991, and 1995; the Cincinnati Enquirer Coach of the Year eight different years; and the Girls Greater Cincinnati League Coach of the Year nine times. She is a member of a host of halls of fame, including the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, the Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame, the Ohio Girls Basketball Magazine Hall of Fame, the LaRosa’s Area High School Hall of Fame, Mother of Mercy’s High School Hall of Fame, and the Communiplex Women’s Hall of Fame. She also has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the local Women Sports Association. In addition, she has had several awards named after her, including a Girls Greater Catholic League Huismann Service and Dedication Award, and the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Women Sports Association Huismann Administrator of the Year Award.

Without a doubt, Huismann is a pioneer, a trailblazer, in women’s sports, especially basketball. Moreover, those impressive career stats make a convincing case for her as a legendary coach, someone whose achievements will stand the test of time. So then, when Mother of Mercy closed its doors in May 2018, you might expect that Huismann was ready to hang up her whistle, content to rest on her laurels and enjoy some well-deserved rest. And you would be wrong. Instead, Huismann looked for a novel challenge somewhere new. Preferably somewhere out of the spotlight, where she could do the things she enjoys most—coach basketball and build a program from the ground up. She found that challenge at Talawanda High School in Butler County, and she quickly set to work. The first year, her team managed just two wins. In year two, they went 9-14. In 2020-21, their record improved to 10-12, with many of their losses by just a few points. She also began a program of girls’ basketball for elementary-school students. She works with coaches at the elementary and middle schools so that they are all teaching the same brand of fundamentally sound basketball. And she’s enjoying the sport as much as ever. Which is why those monikers—pioneer, trailblazer, legend—nice as they are, fail to capture the essence of Mary Jo Huismann. Because it isn’t the stats she’s after, nor the honors, nor the halls of fame. It’s the coaching itself. It’s helping athletes push themselves to become the best players, and the best individuals, they can be. It’s about melding those players into a team. And finally, it’s about teaching that team how to excel, on and off the court.

Dave Schlabach, Berlin Hiland
Dave Schlabach grew up in Holmes County, Ohio. He had the great fortune to play for Hall of Fame coach Charlie Huggins, and to coach beside the legendary Coach Perry Reese for many years. The past 10 years Dave has coached beside his brother Mark, who has led the Hiland boys’ basketball team to two state titles.

Dave is a business owner, but it was his passion for coaching and helping young ladies achieve their goals, that drove him. What resulted was the development of a program that led to six State Championships in 30 years.

At Hiland he had a record of 689-99 for a career winning percentage of 87.4%. His teams have achieved the following accomplishments over the years: 6 State Championships, 5 State Runner-ups, 16 Final Fours, 19 District Championships, 28 Sectional Titles, 26 Consecutive League Championships, the 2000 and 2008 National Federation Coach of the Year, the 2012 National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year, and the 2010 McDonald’s All-American Game Coach.

Besides the accomplishments above, Dave has taken immense pride in two other areas. For 18 years, the nationally known “Classic in the Country” has taken place in Berlin, OH annually. This classic brings in hundreds of college coaches and thousands of fans. Secondly, fifty of Dave’s players have received college scholarships totaling more than six million dollars in scholarships.

He is thankful for the tremendous support of his wife, Tonya, son Brady and daughters Kennedy and Gabby. Dave had the great honor of coaching his two daughters, Kennedy and Gabby, who both won State Championships.

Carol Smith, Walnut Ridge
Carol Smith was born on July 21,1947 in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Miamisburg Schools and graduated in 1965. She was very active in sports and music. Carol played in the marching band and at the varsity level in basketball, volleyball and softball for each of her high school years. She was in the National Honor Society and an officer in many high school activities.

Carol went on to Otterbein College and graduated with a teaching degree in 1969. While at Otterbein she played, for four years, on the collegiate basketball, field hockey and softball teams. She was president of her Greek sorority and the physical education majors sorority.

She married in 1969 and had 2 children, Eric and Crystal. Both children graduated from The Ohio State University where Eric played collegiate Volleyball. Her daughter has blessed her with three grandchildren, Chad, Chance and Daniela.

Carol began her teaching career at Walnut Ridge High School in Columbus, Ohio where she taught Physical Education, Health and a work-study program for at-risk students. She taught at Walnut Ridge for 30 years , and retired in 1999. While at Walnut Ridge she started the girls interscholastic sport teams for basketball and volleyball. There had been no varsity sport teams for girls at Walnut Ridge until this point. She coached her basketball teams to three district finals and the State finals in 1977 (second year of girls tournaments). Carol also originated the first Central district Basketball Tournament in 1975 as a precursor to the state tournaments the following year. She had several players on the Ohio all-state teams and 20 go on to play at the collegiate level, five at Division One. Her 16-year varsity basketball coaching win-loss record percentage was .761.

Carol published an article on The Little Things in Basketball highlighting the basic elements of the sport and wrote a book on the press for Prentice-Hall. She spoke at several District clinics on subjects ranging from Psychology of Coaching, How to Start a Girls Basketball Program and Working with the Officials. She also presented at the Ohio State Basketball Coaches Clinic speaking on the Zone Press.

Also while at Walnut Ridge, Carol was selected to serve on the All-Sports and the Basketball committees for the OHSAA. She served for several years on these committees formed to advance girls sports in Ohio. She also served as an advisor to the Central District Athletic Board for several years and represented her region on the Girls Advisory Committee for the OHSBCA.

Carol was the first (as reported by the media) woman to serve as the head coach for a boys varsity sport in Ohio. Carol coached the varsity boys tennis team for 4 years. She was also asked to fill a position as a football coach but had to decline with her first child being just three months old.

She received a bid in 1975 and attended the regional tryout for the 1976 United States Olympic Basketball team (the first-time women’s basketball was in the Olympics). She played AAU basketball after college and received several honors as a player. Carol was also selected to play in the Women’s Basketball Festival in Iowa (the USA Olympics for women’s basketball before 1976).

After a short respite, from coaching, she originated and organized the Ohio State Basketball All-Star game for Girls. The intention was to bring the coaches of the boys basketball teams and the coaches of the girls basketball teams together under one Ohio Basketball

Hooplines
This year, there will three editions of HOOPLINES as the OHSBCA starts to move to digital content. The Fall / October edition was mailed to every school in the state of Ohio. The Year in Review / January edition will be release around January 10, 2020. The Spring / May edition was be released in Mid-May. Our Monthly newsletters, like this one, will be sent to your email address provided on the membership form.

North-South All-Star Game
The OHSBCA featured event is the Ohio North-South All-Star Game. The Boys have been playing this event since 1958 and the Girls since 1981. The top players and coaches in the state participate in this annual event.

Each team is comprised of ten players. The players selection is done by the following procedure. The State is divided into 16-districts, eight southern and eight northern. One player and one alternate are selected from each district. Voting is done in each district by tallying the number of State Membership votes. The player must be nominated by a coach who is a member of the OHSBCA. The alternate player will participate if the original player cannot participate. Two other players that complete the ten-man roster are selected by (1) At Large from the State, (2) All-Star Committee Selection, or (3) Game Site Selection.

District Directors from the North will select the North coaches and District Director from the South will select the South coaches. Coach must be an OHSBCA Member and coached in the District Finals in the previous season.

The Boys game will take place on Friday, April 22, 2022 at Olentangy Liberty High School. The Division I & II game will tip-off at 6:30 pm, followed by the Division III & IV game at 8:15 pm. The Girls game will also be played on Friday, April 22, 2022 at Newark High School. The Division I & II game will begin at 6:30 pm, followed by the Division III & IV game at 8:15 pm.

The OHSBCA and Luceo Sports
In the fall of 2019, the OHSBCA has added a new value to your membership by partnering with Luceo Sports. The OHSBCA will continue this partnership with Luceo Sports for the 2021-22 basketball season. Starting in September your membership will give you the opportunity to access the Basketball Centric Apps - Whiteboard and Assist. Whiteboard is a Playbook Animation iOS app from Luceo Sports. This will give every coach that is a member the option of draw, storing and showing plays on any electric device (iphone, ipad, laptop, etc.) The Luceo Whiteboard program is currently used by NBA and college teams all over the country.

Luceo Sports has transcended the way players learn with the Assist App. This digital learning is highly engaging and mimics the way players learn today in this digital world. The Assist App allows coaches to deliver their animated playbook, to provide video driven team and personnel game plays, to create memorization games, and develop competitive team leader boards. Empower players to maximize their studying and mental preparation with an educational app designed to meet the specific needs of professional basketball players.

Assist features include personalized animated playbooks, video-driven game plans, and competitive memory games that keep players engaged while they are away from the coaching staff. Teach players your playbook and game plan, faster with animate diagrams. Securely share team strategies for offline review anytime, anywhere.

Members take full advantage of these benefits. Your players will enjoy it!!