Storm squads will face a changing of the guard
MANLIUS — Bureau Valley High School has known just one varsity boys’ basketball coach in its 15-year existence. It has had the same varsity girls’ coach the past 10 years. Beginning next season, the Storm will have a changing of the guard in both programs.
Varsity boys’ coach Brad Bickett and varsity girls’ coach Jeff Ohlson have both tendered their resignations. Their resignations are listed in the school board’s agenda for action taken in Monday’s board meeting.
Bickett’s longtime assistant Bret Helms is also resigning along with BV North eighth-grade girls’ basketball coach Chris Olds, formerly the high school volleyball coach.
Superintendent Terry Gutshall, who is also retiring at the end of the school year, said the coaches will all be missed.
“People like those gentleman are the reason we have been as successful as we’ve been,” he said. “They’re quality guys and model what they expect out of their kids. They’re hard working and have a passion for their sport.
“I’ve been blessed that all of them have had a hand coaching my kids. They’re more than coaches. They’re mentors as well.”
Gutshall also coached with Bickett at Buda Western when he introduced the young new coach, out of Eureka College, to the sport of football.
“He never played football before, but he took to it like a duck in water,” Gutshall said. “He was something special. He brought the same competitiveness, brought the same desire to win and model to win he had playing at Ohio.”
Bickett has laid a foundation of success at Bureau Valley that will stand for years to come. He compiled a 287-150 record (.656) over 15 years at BV and 356-209 (.630) in 20 years, including Buda Western (69-59, three regionals) prior to the BV consolidation in 1995.
Bureau Valley won regionals in its first four years under Bickett’s helm, then took the state by Storm with an unprecedented run of three straight third-place state finishes from 2000-02.
“The kids and coaches will hold onto those memories for the rest of their life, as well as the community,” Gutshall said.
According to BCR research, Bickett was the first to coach in the state tournament after playing in the Class A state tournament (1986 with state runner-up Ohio).
From 2000-05, Bickett’s Storm averaged 26.6 wins a season with five regional titles, three sectional titles and the state third-place trifecta. Their last regional crown came in 2005.
Bickett’s Storm also won TRAC-8 championships in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005.
The 42-year-old father of four children, ages 12-and-under, has desired more time to spend with his growing family and their activities.
Ohlson, who like Bickett attended Kasbeer schools, took over the BV girls’ program in 2000-01 from former coach John McKenzie. He compiled a 125-154 record over 10 seasons, winning two regional championships (2002 and 2010). The final season may have been Ohlson’s best with the Storm posting a 20-9 record with its first regional crown in eight years. The BV girls also went 19-8 in 2002-03.
A 1992 graduate of neighboring Princeton, Ohlson took over the Storm football program in 2008, posting a 17-5 two-year record with two playoff appearances. The dual-sport head coach has found his sports overlapping the past two seasons, and previously when he was an assistant football coach. He has returned to the BV track staff this spring as weight coach.
Both programs brought in potential replacements at the beginning of the past season. Eric Bryant Jr., formerly head coach at Plano and Flanagan, was hired as a PE coach and was a volunteer coach under Bickett. He is the son of Hall of Fame coach Eric Bryant Sr., formerly of Hall and DePue.
Wayne Bailey joined Ohlson’s staff this year after spending one year with the boys’ program under Bickett. He previously coached girls’ basketball at Geneseo.
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