(Griswold) The height of Griswold’s success in boys and girls basketball came at times when Kent Gade ran the show. Gade became the head boys basketball coach at Griswold after spending just one season as an assistant. In his first year the group went 9-12, but over the next 20 plus years they finished below .500 only one other time.
Gade says he was blessed with some quality young men. “They worked really hard and put up with me because I was very strict. We did the fundamental things very well. It’s a game of fundamentals. We gained a lot of respectability, winning a couple of conference championships and conference tournaments. The Western Iowa Conference was probably one of the toughest for Class 1A and 2A in the state.”
The Tigers made it to state in 1981 which Gade calls a dream come true and says a lot of people helped him get to that point. Among his other fond memories was the summer camp he launched. He had a specific message for the parents. “If you expect me to be a babysitter you’re going to be sorely disappointed because we are here to work.”
An encounter with a famous college coach, certainly stands out among Gade’s career highlights. “I was asked to speak at a clinic in St. Louis. I was eating breakfast and a gentleman walked up to me and asked if he could join me for breakfast. I looked up and there he was, the Wizard of Westwood Johnny Wooden, UCLA coach. He was to speak first thing on Sunday morning and I was to speak after him. Which meant of the 300 people that were there to hear John Wooden speak I would have 10-15 that stayed and listened to me speak. How to maintain a successful program in a small school was my topic.”
Gade once had an opportunity to become a graduate assistant in college which was a dream of his, but at the time he wasn’t able to pursue it due to certain circumstances in his life. Other high school opportunities in Arizona and Texas beckoned, but his love for the teaching aspect of his job played a large part in keeping him at Griswold. Not long after stepping down from the boys basketball position, Gade was approached about the girls job. He didn’t exactly jump at it right away as it took some time to warm up to the idea of 6-on-6 basketball.
His interests were in psychology and sociology which is why the Nebraska native ventured to this side of the river. Those courses weren’t offered in the state of Nebraska. “So I looked around and found a school that needed an assistant basketball coach in those fields. That was Griswold and that’s the only school I ever taught at.”
Our full visit with Gade contains many more memories from his successful coaching career such as one instance with a former player who asked to be yelled at so they could play better. He also goes into greater detail on the specific conditions that were laid out before he accepted the girls coaching position. Also included are the tragic circumstances which led him to step down from his post as the head coach of the boys team.
https://soundcloud.com/hyoach/kent-gade-griswold
Previous Coaches
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
Chad Harder, (Walnut Grad) Tri-Center
