*Written by former VHS Student-Athlete, Teacher and Coach, Joe Otis* --- When Virgil Sweet died last week in Florida at the age of 96, the news of his death traveled like a seismic shock wave through Valparaiso and the Indiana basketball community. Icon and legend are inadequate descriptions of Coach Sweet. He was larger than life and an influencer long before the term was invented. Born in 1927, he grew up in Covington, IN. He had a wonderful childhood even though it was marred by the Great Depression and WWII. I would highly recommend going to his Facebook page and reading his post from April 27th, his 96th birthday. There's a charming description of his quest to acquire a tennis racquet when he was only 10 years old. He was an outstanding athlete as he excelled in football, basketball, baseball, and his lifelong passion, tennis. In March of 1945, Virgil and his friends, C.J. Doane and John Myers, led tiny Covington High School to its first regional basketball championship. After losing in the semi-state the following week, the three amigos were allowed to graduate early in order to join the armed forces. Doane chose the Marines and Myers selected the Army. Virgil was still 17 when he reported to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. When his class in Covington graduated, he was on an aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor. After the war the threesome attended college on the GI Bill. C.J. Doane would join Coach Sweet at VHS as a teacher and coach and eventually become the Athletic Director and Assistant Principal. Myers would become a 15 term Republican Congressman representing Indiana's 7th District. The three friends from Covington, stayed in touch and exchanged the same birthday card for over 60 years. Coach Sweet arrived at VHS in the summer of 1954 and inherited a program mired in mediocrity. The Vikings had won just one sectional in the previous 15 seasons and had gone 74 and 148 in the last 10 seasons. Coach's first two seasons produced identical 8-13 records which were only slightly less mediocre than the previous years. Some fans wondered if the school board had made the right choice in hiring him, but in the next season he was able to silence the doubters. The Vikings took off, winning 11 sectionals in a row becoming a Northern Indiana powerhouse. In 1964 the Vikings won the Logansport regional with a stunning 64-62 come from behind victory over Pioneer. I was in 6th grade and attended those games with Eric Leaming and his father. That's when I really got serious about becoming a basketball player. Mike Carlin, Mike Copper, and Tom Hampson would become my heroes. The following Saturday the Vikings defeated Greencastle in the afternoon to advance to the semi-state championship game. On Saturday night Casbon's Electric on Lincolnway stayed open so people could listen to the radio broadcast made possible by Casbon's 50 foot antenna.I was one of about 200 people crammed into the store to listen to the game. It was a scene right out of Hoosiers, except the Vikings lost 73-67 to eventual state champion Lafayette Jeff. Ten years later, Coach Sweet's final game as coach of the Vikings was in the the semi-state championship game losing to Lafayette Jeff once again 72-62. In his 20 seasons as head coach, Virgil Sweet would win 14 sectionals and 2 regionals. Dozens of his players would have their college educations paid for with basketball scholarships. He had a number of players attend a US military academy. Of course, Coach himself was the epitome of command presence. He was always dressed neatly whether in the classroom or on the court with his signature bow tie. His practices, classes, and life ran with military precision. Preseason practices were a lot like boot camp and two weeks before the sectional we would have the legendary "Speed Practice" to prepare for the demands of two games in one day through the state tournament. At the top of the stairs that led from our locker room under the stage in Boucher Gym Coach would put a piece of white athletic tape. When you crossed that threshold, you did not stop moving for 45 minutes. If you were stopped at all, you did jumping jacks. Some players got sick and others could not finish. It was brutal but when players played that second game on Saturday for the sectional championship, they knew that they were in better shape than their opponents. By the way, 13 of Coach Sweet's 14 sectionals were won at Goldsborough Gym in Chesterton. I can't think of any player from any of those championship teams that played at Chesterton who didn't relish being booed by Trojan fans. We knew that we were going into hostile territory but we also knew we were ready. In addition to a basketball life of executing a wide array of drills and plays with military precision on our way to mastering the famed V Offense, there was a long list of rules and regulations that we were required to follow. Coach Sweet was hired to in 1954 to clean up a basketball plagued by bad behavior. Sure, we couldn't drink or smoke. But we couldn't eat chocolate, drink Coke or any other soda drinks, or use ketchup for that matter. Just for the record, ketchup will "cut your wind." A violation would cost you 100 laps around the basketball court. That's 5 miles, folks, and that's a real penalty. In addition, we had to have short haircuts like crew cuts or flat tops and couldn't have any facial hair. We had a 9pm curfew on weeknights and 11pm on weekends and 7pm the night before a game. We could not drive during the basketball season unless a parent was with us in the car. As a result, our lives were incredibly less romantic during basketball season and I'm pretty sure that was his goal. Needless to say, these requirements would be a hard sell these days. Over the years, there were players with talent who didn't even try out because they didn't want to cut their hair or follow those rules. And Coach didn't care. He wanted players in his program who were totally committed. Coach Sweet created a successful basketball program by recruiting excellent assistant, middle school, and elementary coaches. This feeder system taught players the fundamentals at an early age. He authored Series of Specifics, four booklets on coaching. The most well known booklet was on free throw shooting. Mike Copper, who made 409 free throws in a row at lunchtime one day became the poster boy for the Valpo Method. Coach Sweet became a nationally recognized authority on free throw shooting. Nearly half a century since he coached here, the Vikings are still known for free throw shooting. Coach was not just an architect and an author, he was also an activist. In 1971 he founded the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) with help from Marion Crowley, the Lafayette coach who won four state championships and Howard Sharpe, the brilliant Terre Haute Gertsmeyer coach. The IBCA quickly became one of the largest high school coaching organizations in the country. It continues to provide coaches with an annual clinic in the spring and a collective voice to improve the game. Coach Sweet was very proud of the IBCA and was active in the organization until his death. Annually, he would present an award named in his honor Because of his continuing involvement and dedication to basketball, many of his former players followed in his footsteps and became successful coaches in their own right. Virgil retired from teaching at VHS in the early 1980's and moved to Tampa, FL where he became a successful realtor. Over the years, he stayed in touch with many former players and students. All of his former players can tell many entertaining stories about their relationship with him. A long time ago, Coach Sweet put Viking basketball on the map. He coached the last game at Boucher Gym and the first game at Viking Gym, the two places we've played for the last century. He came back every summer to see old friends and sometimes during the season to attend games. He was planning to come back in August like has the past several years. As with all things Viking basketball, Coach was excited to hear that a former VHS player, Ben Lieske, was chosen as the new Valpo Viking head coach. He had seen Ben coach the JV team many times and always spoke highly of his coaching. While Ben will be the 7th head coach since Coach Sweet retired in 1974, Virgil Sweet's DNA is still all over the Valpo Viking basketball program. Rest in peace, Coach. You had a good run.