Indiana Hall of Fame members Patrick, Conner honored with John Wooden Legacy Coaching Award

Two former successful high school basketball coaches were recognized as the Indiana honorees for 2024-25 in the John Wooden Legacy Coaching Award program presented by the National High School Basketball Coaches Association, it was announced Wednesday.

Bill Patrick, retired former coach at Sidney, South Whitley, Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley, and Jan Conner, retired former coach at Warren Central, Benton Central, Martinsville and Lafayette Jefferson, are the 2024-25 winners from the Hoosier state as nominated by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association.

The two were among 46 honorees from 23 states in an NHSBCA program coordinated with the Wooden Family.

The award recognizes scholastic basketball coaches from around the nation who are educators and have achieved excellence on the floor, in the classroom and in the community that further embody the characteristics and legacy of the late John Wooden. The criteria for the award are rooted in the ideals of education, longevity, character, service and excellence.

Patrick, who turns 88 on March 6, posted a 764-318 record with 21 conference titles, 16 sectional championships, three regional crowns and one semi-state trophy in 48 seasons as an Indiana varsity boys’ basketball coach. That total includes a 13-9 mark in one season at Sidney, a 64-24 record in four seasons at South Whitley, a 399-147 slate in 24 seasons at Whitko and a 288-138 ledger in 19 seasons at Tippecanoe Valley.

At South Whitley, his team won the 1970 Kosciusko County Tournament. At Whitko, his teams captured 11 sectionals, two regionals (1990, 1991), a 1991 semi-state and eight Three Rivers Conference titles. At Tippecanoe Valley, his teams claimed five sectionals, a 2000 regional, 13 additional TRC titles and seven holiday tournament crowns. He posted an undefeated regular season at Whitko in 1979-80 and had a No. 1 state ranking in Class 3A at Tippecanoe Valley in 2003-04. His teams totaled 10 20-win seasons and just five losing seasons, the first of those after 39 consecutive winning seasons.

Patrick was selected IBCA District 2 Coach of the Year in 1980, the NFHS Indiana and district Coach of the Year in 2000 and the Manchester College “M” Association Claude Wolfe Coach of the Year in 2004. He served as an assistant coach for the 1993 Indiana All-Stars, coached two All-Star players – Jeff Peters (1984) and Steve Nicodemus (1991) – and 17 players who received some level of all-state recognition.

Patrick was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and into the Kosciusko County Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. His first varsity victory came on Nov. 1, 1963 (Sidney defeated Leesburg 83-61), and his final varsity triumph came on Feb. 24, 2017 (53-42 over Wawasee).

Patrick is a 1956 graduate of Sidney High School, where he was class valedictorian and earned 11 varsity letters (three in basketball, four in baseball and four in track & field). He matriculated to Manchester College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies and physical education. He later earned a master’s degree in physical education at Ball State in 1967.

He began coaching basketball while an undergraduate, guiding Sidney Junior High teams from 1958-60. He followed by coaching elementary and junior teams at Clay Township in 1960-61 and at Burket Junior High from 1961-63. He was the varsity coach at Sidney in 1963-64, the last year the school existed before it became part of South Whitley. In 1964-65, he coached the Sidney Junior High team, then assisted at South Whitley from 1965-67.

Patrick was varsity coach from 1967-71 at South Whitley, which then consolidated with Larwill and Pierceton into Whitko. He was the Whitko coach for 24 seasons, took a three-year break, then coached at Tippecanoe Valley for 19 seasons. After stepping down as head coach, he assisted his son Chad for five additional seasons at Tippecanoe Valley.

He also compiled a 310-101 mark with eight conference crowns and one sectional title in 15 seasons as a varsity baseball coach. At various points, he also coached track and boys’ volleyball.

Patrick and his wife, Nancy, have been married for 65 years. They have four children (Brett, Teresa, Chad and Michelle), six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

 Conner, 72, is honored after compiling a 481-100 record with 18 conference titles, 17 sectional crowns, nine regional trophies, four semi-state titles and two state championships in 26 seasons as an Indiana varsity girls’ basketball coach.

Her total includes a 30-6 mark with one sectional title in two seasons at Warren Central, a 292-43 record with 12 sectionals, seven regionals and two semi-states in 15 seasons at Benton Central, a 115-27 ledger with three sectionals, two regionals, two semi-states and two state titles in six seasons at Martinsville and a 44-24 slate with one sectional crown in three seasons at Lafayette Jefferson.

Notably, Conner’s teams at Martinsville won Indiana’s last non-class state tournament at 26-1 in 1997, the state’s first Class 4A title (and Tournament of Champions event) at 29-0 in 1998, claimed an Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Classic championship in December 1997 and had a 55-game winning streak from November 1996 until November 1998. Over her coaching career, her teams posted 10 20-win seasons and six undefeated regular seasons – 1977-78, 1980-81, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1987-88 and 1997-98.

In addition, Conner served as a floor coach for USA Basketball in North Team Trials for the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1989 and 1995. She also coached at international camps in Africa in 1985 and in Norway in 1994.

Conner is a 1970 graduate of Benton Central, where no school-based girls’ basketball was offered when she attended high school. However, she was a 13-time state champion in Girls’ Athletic Association track & field and held one-time state records in the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches), hurdles (7.2 seconds), shot put (42 feet, 6 inches) and softball throw (232 feet, 0 inches). She also was in student government and won a VFW Voice of Democracy state contest as a senior, ultimately meeting President Richard M. Nixon when she went to Washington, D.C., for the national competition.

She turned down a chance to play basketball with the All-American Redheads barnstorming team in 1970, instead going to Indiana State University on at track scholarship. There, she was named the Indiana Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 1971 after excelling in the javelin, discus and shot put and competing in the USA Track & Field Nationals.

But her true love was basketball, so she moved to that sport for three seasons at ISU. She helped the Sycamores to a 4-9 record in 1971-72. She averaged 9.1 points, led the team with 7.6 rebounds and was named team MVP in 1972-73 in a 16-7 campaign that included a berth in the AIAW Nationals. She then tallied 10.9 points and 7.2 rebounds in 1973-74 as the team went 15-5 and reached the AIAW Midwest Region quarterfinals.

Conner earned her bachelor’s degree in health and physical education from Indiana State in 1975 and earned a master’s degree in health and physical education from Purdue University in 1982. She spent the spring of 1975 coaching track while a student-teacher at West Lafayette. She coached basketball and track from 1975-77 at Warren Central and followed by coaching basketball and track at Benton Central from 1977-92. She took a three-year detour to coach NCAA Division II women’s basketball at Northeast Missouri State (now Truman State University) from 1992-95, then returned to Indiana to coach at Martinsville from 1995-2001. After five years out of coaching, she completed her coaching career from 2006-09 at Lafayette Jefferson.

She coached seven Indiana All-Stars – JoAnn Brouillette (1979), Leslie Seehafer (1981), Sheryl Klemme (1989), Faith Cyr (1992), Mackenzie Curless (1996), Kristen Bodine (1998) and April Traylor (1998) – as well as numerous additional all-state caliber players.

Conner received multiple coaching awards over the years. They include four Hoosier Conference Coach of the Year awards (1983, 1985, 1988, 1989), 1985 IBCA District 1 Coach of the Year, 1989 ICGSA Coach of the Year, 1989 Huntington Tipoff Club Coach of the Year, two IndyStar Metro West Coach of the Year accolades (1997, 1998), 1997 IndyStar Suburban Coach of the Year, 1998 Conference Indiana Coach of the Year, 1998 IndyStar Super Team Coach of the Year and a 1998 honor as a WBCA high school district Coach of the Year.

She also served as an assistant coach for the 1985 Indiana All-Stars, head coach for the 1990 Indiana All-Stars, a West coach in the 1996 HBCA East/West All-Star Classic, South head coach for the 1996 and 1998 North/South Indiana All-Star Classic events and head coach for the White Team in 1998 Nike/WBCA  All-America Game presented by The Phoenix. And she served on ICGSA and IBCA boards for various periods while also establishing the first state-wide girls’ basketball poll.