HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE
DALE REICHENBACH, ELYRIA
1995 RECIPIENT
8
Have every practice planned and timed, carefully to teach with emphasis an aggressive and intelligent play, mixed with team effort, hard work and doing your best.
Coach Reichenbach graduated
from Bluffton High School in 1937 and Bluffton College in 1941. In 1951 he
received his Master's degree from Bowling Green State University. From
1942-46, he served in the US Navy as Chief Specialist in Athletics with a
tour of duty in Guam, where he coached the base basketball team. Coach
Reichenbach spent one year at Montgomery Local (16-8) and the next five
years at Grand Rapids, Ohio (106-21). They won the State Class B Title in
1951 with only 51 boys in the school, beating many larger Class A Schools
from the Toledo area.
Starting in 1953, he spent 13 years at the helm in Elyria. Pioneer
basketball teams won 221 games and lost only 78 for a sparkling 73 percent.
They won nine sectional and district championships for Elyria, going on to
win regional crowns twice, in 1961 and 1964. For his 19 yeas in coaching,
Reichenbach complied a tremendous 343-107 record, a winning percentage
of .762. Some of his best won-lost records were 29-2 at Grand Rapids in
1951, 20-2 in 1958, and 23-1 in 1959. In 1966 the Pioneers were 20-4, with
one of the victories over Toledo Libbey, the state's second place team in
the state finals in Columbus. Under his coaching, Elyria won five Buckeye
League championships, including 1966 when the team was ranked seventh in the
state.
Reichenbach was master coach of strategy, and had an excellent statewide
reputation. Elyria teams played a controlled, pattern style of basketball
with a strong emphasis on defense. It was never more evident than in 1966
when the Pioneers held opponents under 50 points a game.
Some of the honors he has received include: Elyria Sports Hall of Fame,
Bluffton College Sports Hall of Fame, Lorain County Basketball Coaches Hall
of Fame, AP High School Basketball Coach of the Year (1959), Coach of the
North All-Stars in the North-South All-Star Game in 1961. Coach Reichenbach
also served on the Northwest Athletic Board in advisory capacity from
1951-53, and is a lifetime member of the OHSBCA.
One of his main philosophies of coaching is "I believe one of the most
important things for a coach to teach is that the players should bring
credit to themselves and their school, both on and off the court." He
stressed courtesy, proper dress and manners, and felt that this brought
squad morale to its highest peak, paving the way for victories on the floor
and for good citizenship later in life.
Dale and Elsie, his wife of 53 years, have three sons, Randy, Gary and Tim,
and six granchildren.
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