Coach Tippett going to ECS
Tippett going to ECS - Spartans look to replace successful coach
By Jim Masilak March 23, 2004
When White Station received its TSSAA Class AAA boys basketball state championship trophy Saturday night in Murfreesboro, the second letter "a" in "state champions" was missing.
The Spartans now have another, much larger space to fill.
Terry Tippett, who led White Station to three straight Class AAA state titles and four in the last five seasons, agreed Monday to become the boys basketball coach at Evangelical Christian School.
Tippett will leave a program that has gone 176-12 the past five seasons for one that won just four games this year and has never won a state title.
"It was hard. It's tough having people come up and say they couldn't believe I was gonna leave," a teary-eyed Tippett said Monday. "I thought about it for a month or so and the timing was right.
"They came to me. I didn't seek it. I'm happy here. But at this stage of my career it's the right move to make."
Tippett, 58, will also be the head boys golf coach and teach physical education at ECS. He will split the rest of the school year between White Station and ECS, where he will hold spring practice.
ECS athletic director Jim Heinz was thrilled to announce Tippett's hiring after agreeing to terms Monday.
Tippett has won more than 650 games at Dyer County (1972-77), Trezevant ('78-86) and White Station. In addition to the titles he won with the Spartans in 2000 and '02-04, Tippett led Trezevant to the Class AA crown in 1980.
"It was a priority to make sure our basketball program was gonna be taken care of, and we couldn't ask for a better coach or person to come in," Heinz said. "There's a lot of excitement around here with him coming."
Neither Tippett nor Heinz would discuss terms of the rolling 1-year contract Tippett signed Monday. But by adding his salary at ECS to the full retirement benefits he can now begin drawing from Memphis City Schools, Tippett will improve his financial situation.
"That's part of it, but I also want the challenge of coaching other kids," Tippett said. "(The money's) not outstanding, but it's enough that I could feel comfortable making the move."
While leading White Station to a 472-136 record and winning four state titles in 17 seasons, Tippett became the school's public face.
"It's a big loss for our school and our basketball program," White Station principal Wanda Winette said. "It's hard to imagine White Station basketball without him."
At ECS, Tippett will face perhaps the biggest challenge of his career. Tommy Danner and Jim Garrison coached the Eagles to a 4-22 record on an interim basis, but Tippett is optimistic ECS can compete at a high level.
"The goal in two or three years is to be competitive on a state level," he said. "It's my belief that there are hoopers in every school. I'm gonna find them and identify them."
White Station, despite graduating six seniors, should still be one of the city's top teams next season. Highly regarded juniors J.P. Prince and Colin Cunningham will form the nucleus of a unit Tippett said could still contend for a title.
Cunningham said Tippett's announcement to the team following Saturday night's win over Jackson North Side left him numb.
"I'm gonna take it tougher than most guys because that's my senior year," said Cunning ham, a 6-6 guard. "It was definitely one of the weirdest nights of my life. You want to go out and run around and have fun and then it's, 'Guys, I won't be coming back.' "
Winette intends to fill the Spartans' coaching vacancy as soon as possible. Athletic director and girls coach Eric Sullivan and boys assistant William Warren will be given first consideration.
The Spartans were 39-2 this season and are ranked No. 11 nationally in USA Today's Super 25 poll.
"It's been a dream, but I know this is not gonna go on forever," Tippett said. "You want to quit on a make and I'm quitting on a make. We made our last shot."
- Jim Masilak: 529-2311