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St. Henry boys basketball coach Fran Guilbault is pictured in the fourth quarter of the Division IV state semifinal, in which he earned his 500th career win, on March 21, 1991.
When former St. Henry boys basketball coach Fran Guilbault retired in 1999, he had been around the local basketball scene for well over half of the time the sport even existed at the high school level in Mercer County.
Thirty-eight years, 624 wins, 35 straight winning seasons, 20 league and conference championships, and three state championships - in terms of sheer numbers Guilbault, who is in the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, knew how to produce winners.
His methods may have been unconventional, or what might be referred to today as "old school", but the former Marine was a master at creating a culture of discipline and accountability, and with a special blend of ferociously-paced offenses, it culminated to heights that no coach in our area has seen before or since.
Al Summers, the long-time St. Henry JV coach under Guilbault, won't soon forget their initial interaction, which lit the flame to his own high school coaching career.
"I started teaching at St. Henry in 1972 and coached basketball at the junior high level for six seasons," Summers recalled. "One of my most memorable contacts with him was the spring after JV coach Jim Niekamp left to go to Coldwater. I was out warming up the JV baseball team for a game and he rode his bike out to where I was to talk to me. He offered me the JV position right there on the spot and that started our 19-year collaboration on the bench together."
Although their styles on the sidelines were much different, Summers said those differences, and Guilbault's flexibility, were what made them such a successful duo.
"In most high school programs, the JV team usually mimics the varsity team offensively and defensively," Summers explained. "Coach Guilbault let me do what I believed was best - so long as the players were ready for the varsity when they moved up. That philosophy gave me a lot of freedom and it made me feel that I was indeed in charge of my own team."
While winning eventually became the standard of the St. Henry program, it didn't start out easy for Guilbault, as the Redskins combined for a 13-45 record in his first three years. They didn't win a state title until 1979, after finishing the campaign 26-0.
Guilbault's next state titles came in 1990 and again in 1991, in Divisions III and IV respectively. Kevin Niekamp was an all-Ohio center on both those squads and recalled Guilbault's throw-back approach.
"He kept things simple and was more of a players' coach, which many of us liked - he rolled the ball out on the court and just let us play basketball," Niekamp explained. "The majority of our practices involved just scrimming (scrimmaging), and the rest of it was doing shooting drills. In fact, the only individual drill we did in practice was shoot.
"His goals for games were simple - out-rebound your opponent and attempt more shots than them," Niekamp went on. "He didn't like passing too many times because it increased the chances for a turnover, so you didn't have to tell us twice to keep shooting! It was a more offensive-minded game back then versus what it is now - right, wrong or indifferent, today it seems the defensive side of the game is the priority."
For St. Henry athletic director, Dennis Wendel, coming onto the varsity scene as a freshman in 1995 wasn't as intimidating as he expected and he learned plenty of lessons from Guilbault along the way.
"I was always surprised how calm he was - he really didn't ever get excited, angry, or frustrated. He was very consistent with his demeanor and approach, and was even more so during games," Wendel said. "He always equated game night to a test in class - he prepared us during the week, and game day was the test to see how we did at practice that week. He really didn't make a lot of adjustments or changes during the games. We did what we did, and if that was good enough we won, and if it wasn't we lost."
The stories concerning Guilbault on the court and as a strict disciplinarian in the classroom are legendary among St. Henry fans and graduates through the years, but behind the scenes, his kindness, generosity, and empathy are what many of those closest to him recall with fondness.
"My wife, Vicki, and I had attended all of Jim Lachey's college football games at Ohio State when he was a senior, and Jim said he could get us tickets for the Rose Bowl," Summers said. "I was hesitant to bring it up with coach Guilbault, because I would have to miss some practices. On the Friday of Thanksgiving though, I went into practice and knew it was now or never in saying something because we had to arrange flights and were running out of time.
"I was sitting on the bench trying to come to grips with the right words," he continued, "and he sat down beside me and said, 'I know you have been going to Jim's games all season, why don't you take a few days off and go to the Rose Bowl?' That gesture really meant a lot to me."
Niekamp remembers Guilbault winning loyalty with the path to every boy's heart - food.
"Before each season, coach Guilbault shared with the team that there would be an incentive for us to win double weekend games - he'd take us to Casey Jones in Celina on Monday nights after practice," Niekamp said with a laugh. "Needless to say, we ate very well during the season and his wallet got a little lighter. We were very grateful though for his generosity, that's for sure, although I think after our two-year state title run, he decided to change his incentive program."
Coach Guilbault is now 87 years old, and although he doesn't get around like he used to, he can rest assured that his impact on so many is still remembered years later, especially his trademark dry, candid humor.
Fran Guilbault"Anyone who played for or coached against coach Guilbault knows we did not put a lot of focus on defense," Wendel said with a smile. "When I spoke with him at our 100-year basketball celebration, he explained to me how early in his career he knew that most kids really didn't like to play defense and he didn't really like coaching defense, so he figured out pretty quickly that if his teams wanted to win, they were going to have to score a lot of points. His teams averaged over 70 points per game for his entire career, so I would say that is pretty accurate."
With all Guilbault accomplished in 38 years, it's hard to argue against that philosophy.
