Former Bulldogs square off in collegiate coaching ranks
Growing up in Ohio around the time I did, one thing was certain — basketball was king.
As kids we played hoops before, during and after school, in sun, rain, snow or ice. Tuesday and Friday nights during the winter, the gym was the place to be, with seemingly every Ohio resident assembled to root on the Bulldogs.
Entering into town, the first thing you saw (and still see if you’re going slow enough to read the faded paint) was a sign proclaiming “Small is Mighty,” saluting the 1986 state runners up, which incidentally was my kindergarten year at the school.
And while I can’t specifically remember emulating the jump shots of 1993 grad Tony Tompkins (an all BCR first-teamer and area scoring leader with 24.6 points per game in 93), or the full-court pressure of defensive specialist and 1992 alum Mick Reuter on the playground court, I know for a fact that we held the older Bulldogs in high esteem as my classmates and I worked our way up through the grade-school ranks.
Like so many other old Bulldogs (myself included), Reuter and Tompkins gained a love affair with basketball during their tenure at OHS. They have continued it to this day in the coaching ranks.
Reuter, who spent most of last season as the interim head hoops coach at Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, and has had coaching stops at both St. Gregory High School and briefly at Judson as an assistant to Tompkins, lost the interim tag this season as head coach for the Raiders.
Tompkins is entering into his second year as head coach of Judson University in Elgin, after previously coaching at Missouri Baptist.
The duo, who have kept in weekly contact after finding out that they were both in the coaching ranks nearly five years ago, squared off Saturday in an exhibition contest at Judson, where the former teammates sat on opposing benches running the show for their respective programs.
Judson captured a 98-90 victory, but that didn’t dampen Reuter’s enjoyment of the contest.
“It was a lot of fun,” said Reuter. “It was interesting. We’ll do it again next year.”
Reuter said that the environment he grew up in, playing basketball for the Bulldogs under coaches Rick Kamrath, Lloyd Johnson and Neil Roach, paved the way to wanting to be a basketball coach.
“I think it led to coaching,” Reuter said of his time on the hardwood at Ohio. “The experiences we had in Ohio were positive, and led us to want to make those experiences available to other people.”
It’s no surprise to me that a couple of Ohio grads are making a name for themselves in the college coaching ranks, joining the likes of other former Bulldogs who have taken on coaching duties in high school, like current Bureau Valley coach Brad Bickett, and former area coaches Jim Brandau, Doug Doran, Lance Harris and Tim Smith.
After all, once upon time in a sleepy little town called Ohio, basketball was king.
Chris Yucus is a sports writer for the Bureau County Republican. He can be contacted at cyucus@bcrnews.com.
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