SPORTS

'Quack' sets high bar for Newark basketball to reach

Kurt Snyder
Reporter
  • Jeff Quackenbush led Newark to a third consecutive OCC title and a district title.
  • Newark played strong defense despite not having a player taller than 6-foot-3.

NEWARK – The definition of average is different inside the locker room at Jimmy Allen Gymnasium.

A .500 season gets Newark nowhere close to average, and it is no accident the Wildcats' winning percentage is far north of that. Coach Jeff Quackenbush's definition of average is 15 victories out of a minimum 23 games.

This year's edition of the Wildcats blew by that figure and continued to raise the bar to a level most programs will never reach. It is a killed or be killed mentality for Newark, and the Wildcats usually do all of the killing.

"He just expects more because we come from Newark," senior forward Dustin Stoneburner said. "Our fans expect us to win, and that is why it is such a big loss when we lose. Our fans know that we are going to be pretty decent in basketball almost every year, and I think that is all because of our coaching staff and what they do for us."

Quackenbush acknowledged during the offseason the graduation of starters Teddy Metzen and Grant Russell would hurt, leaving Newark with no player taller than 6-foot-3. It did not change his goals.

Five seniors loved hearing that. The Wildcats never took the expected step back, winning a share of their third consecutive Ohio Capital Conference-Ohio Division title and the program's first Division I district title since 2008.

"When he has high expectations, it gives us high expectations, and we always work hard to meet them," senior guard Jordan Dartis said. "He is always that type of guy. It doesn't matter what type of team he has. … He is going to do his job, and we have to do our job."

Those accomplishments and a 21-6 mark made Quackenbush The Advocate's Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

Newark had Dartis and some question marks entering the season. Seniors Khayle Woods, Stoneburner, Darius Shackleford and Kaysey Brokaw-Henderson each had varying degrees of experience, and each were going to carry a more significant piece of the load.

"It is such a good coaching staff, and they develop players really well," Brokaw-Henderson said. "We have all been through it. You develop your guys to win, and I think that makes him a really good coach."

Brokaw-Henderson had the least amount of varsity experience of the five, yet he developed into an all-league performer. He, Stoneburner and Shackleford each scored at least nine points per game and each stepped to the forefront in key games.

Even without a "rim protector," Newark frequently closed off the paint and forced teams to bomb away from the outside. Shackleford and Stoneburner battled Gahanna standout Nick Ward, a 6-9 bruiser, to a draw in the Wildcats' upset victory.

"These guys knew we were going to have to change the way we play without having bigger guys inside with Teddy and Grant who we lost last year, but your basic principles of coaching don't change," Quackenbush said. "It doesn't matter what offense you are running or defense you are running. The kids have to play hard, have to do the little things and be really fundamental basketball players on offense and be hard-nosed on defense."

The season was not without rough patches, largely because of the treacherous schedule Quackenbush set in front of his team. Five of the Wildcats' six losses came to teams that were receiving votes in the Division I state poll at some point this winter.

Two of Newark's three losses in the season's final two months came to regional champion Westerville South. After a loss to South in mid-January, the Wildcats made a renewed commitment to defense and rode it all of the way to the regional semifinals where they fought South tooth and nail for 32 minutes.

"I think our kids' practice habits are what gets them over the hump against some teams that might be a little faster, a little bigger, a little stronger and just the belief that if we all stick with it, good things are going to happen," Quackenbush said. "A lot of that has to do with this senior group."

Quackenbush said this year's seniors were influenced by Christian Keller, Daniel Logan and Ben Barnhart. Those were the seniors in 2012, who upset state-ranked Pickerington Central during the regular season and eventually made the district finals.

That was the prelude to a three-year stretch when Newark looked some of the best players in Ohio right in the eye and never blinked.

"Think about the things they did," Quackenbush said. "They won three league titles and played in four district finals. That is a heck of a career for a group of seniors. They got their picture on the wall three times, and at Newark, that means something."

ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8556

Twitter: @newarkurt

PAST WINNERS

2014 Adam Teeters, Granville

2013 Jeff Quackenbush, Newark

2012 Jeff Quackenbush, Newark

2011 Devin Fulk, Heath