Coach Wenderoth recalls special season

Hard-nosed. Winner. Driven.

Those are three words that several of Coach C.R. Wenderoth's players from his 1967-68 team may use to describe the former Grant County High School boys' basketball coach, but all admit that without him, they wouldn't have been the successes they have become both on and off the court.

Stephen Bates was a member of that team and can remember Wenderoth's rule of his players wearing shirts, jackets and ties before games.

"Coach was real big on the idea that if you looked like a winner, you would play like a winner. He gave me a chance to play and I am glad I was able to participate and be a part of it," said Bates, who was a starter on that team, which finished 21-12 and one game shy of advancing to the state tournament.

Fellow starter Steve Fisk recalls Wenderoth's 'selection process' along with his practices.

"We were the first of his teams that went through a selection process. When he came, we were sophomores and he had tryouts. Quite a few upperclassmen were cut that year and that made the 1967-68 senior class a little unique. We worked hard on the fundamentals, and at almost every practice there were fundamentals that were taught, and that helped us as a team. Coach gave us a refuse to lose attitude," Fisk said.

Terry Smallwood, who played at Union College following his high school career, said Wenderoth worked his team hard in practice.

A Coach for all ages

Growing up, Wenderoth was a fan of former University of Kentucky men's basketball coach Adolph Rupp and wanted to enter the coaching ranks as a result of the impact Rupp, along with former UCLA men's basketball coach John Wooden and former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach, had on his childhood.

After getting his coaching start at Ludlow High School in 1957, Wenderoth came to Grant County in 1965 for his first stint until the mid-1980's, where he then went to Scott High School. In 1990, the veteran returned to Grant County's sidelines, where he coached until 1995. During his tenure, he won two regional championships.

As a coach, Wenderoth preached the importance of being physically fit, spending much of practice putting his players through wind sprints, sprints up the bleachers, jump rope drills and jump rack drills.

"I believed in good legs and good shooting. Those two can cover up a multitude of sins," Wenderoth said.

Wenderoth said in addition to conditioning, 40 to 50 percent of his practice was dedicated to shooting drills.

In addition to preparing his players physically, Wenderoth had them prepared mentally, often charting opposing players and teams' tendencies during games.

"I kept a diary of every practice and every game and kept track of not only what we did but what our opponents did. Homer Rice was the football coach at Ludlow, and he accounted for every minute of practice. He said if it moves, record it, and we charted every aspect," Wenderoth said, showing off some of his notes from the 1967-68 scorebook.

Joe Gordon, who played on the GCHS 1967-68 team, recalls that his thoughts of his former coach have changed through the years.

"At the time, I thought he was hard and rough, but looking back, I would say he did all of us a huge favor and taught us a lot. He was a really good man," Gordon said.

Wenderoth said that was part of the lesson.

"The whole idea was to prepare them for life. Most of the kids bought into it," he said.

While it has been over a decade since he last paced the sidelines, Wenderoth still remembers the names, faces and plays that made his coaching career a memorable one.

"I have a lot of fond memories. Sometimes I run into players and other times I wonder where they are. I had a few stop by when I was in the hospital and I never dreamed I would see them again. It truly has been great being in Grant County," Wenderoth said.