HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE
BOB
ARNZEN, DELPHOS ST. JOHN'S
1995 RECIPIENT
Any success I had in coaching was due to having good players,
their ability to play as a team and to always play hard.
Paper and print cannot do justice to the career of Bob Arnzen who spent 43
years as coach at Delphos St. John's and is the second winningest coach in
the history of Ohio High School basketball with 676 wins and 291 losses. His
teams were state tournament runner-ups in 1954 and 1973; state semifinalist
in 1982; state champs in 1983; and state semifinalist in 1990. St. John's
had no league affiliation until the 1971-72 season, when they joined the
WEstern Buckeye League and consequently took the league championship in
1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982. St. John's joined the
Midwest Athletic Conference in 1982, and were champs in 1983, 1987 and 1989.
In addition to basketball, Arnzen was the first head football coach at St.
John's in 1955 and then served as assistant from 1956 to 1965. He was head
baseball coach from 1950-62, and served two stints as head cross country
coach 1972-76 and 1979-80.
Throughout his career Bob was very active in the coach's association, not
only on the local level but also the state and national levels. He organized
the District 8 Coaches Association in 1966, serving as President through
1968. He served as District Director of the OHSBCA from 1966-68 and then was
elected Assistant Secretary / Treasurer of the state association, from 1970
to the present. He also served on the Basketball Rules Advisory Committee
from 1987-1994. For many years he has also been a member of the National
Federal Interscholastic Coaches Association.
Coach Arnzen received many honors during his career,
including: Coach of the Year in Ohio twice; National Catholic Coach of the Year;
Paul Walker Award; Ohio Pro / Am Award for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in
Sports; Mac Morrison Lifetime Service Award from the Northwest Athletic District
Board; University of Dayton Sports Achievement Award; and Northern Kentucky
Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1963-1964 he was a coach in the North-South All-Star Game;
coached the Ohio All-Stars in the Dapper Dan game in Pittsburgh; the first
District 8 game in 1974-1975 and again in 1989-1990. Also in 1990 he coach the
Ohio All-Stars in the two game Ohio-Michigan series. In 1989-1990 he was a
National High School Athletic Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year
finalist.
Bob graduated from the University of Dayton in 1951 with a
Bachelor's of Science in Education, and received his Master's in Administration
there in 1979. He is a devoted family man with wife Alice, sons Jim and Ted, and
daughters Elaine Sheehan, Marie Arnzen and Jeanne Gulick. He has eight grandchildren.
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