Willard legend Haas leaves 'quite a legacy'

WILLARD — Bob Haas was so good and so respected they painted his name on the gym floor. Legend does not even come close to describing Haas. He was everything when it comes to Willard High School basketball. The numbers speak for themselves. But numbers only scratch the surface when you talk about Bob Haas. Haas, 82, died Thursday, peacefully at his home. Haas and the Willard Flashes were at their peak when I came to Norwalk in June 1979. They were state semifinalists in 1980, 1982 and 1984. During that time the team won a state-record 69 straight games, beginning with an 81-35 victory over Shelby on Feb. 23, 1979, with win No. 69 a 49-43 decision on Dec. 28, 1982, over Sandusky St. Mary's. Haas finished with a 522-114 record in 28 years as a head coach — the last 22 with the Flashes. At Willard his teams were 441-74 overall and 292-34 in the Northern Ohio League. His teams won 15 straight sectional titles, beginning with the 1973-74 season. Willard games during that time were something to see. The fans followed the Flashes everywhere, lining up hours before games to get a seat. Home games were like a Broadway show with spotlights and the teams coming out from behind a sliding door in the gym. Once the tournament started, everybody in town was on board. It was a happening. It was the Willard road show and Bob Haas was the conductor. I wrote this in a column on March 13, 1993, following a 64-51 tournament win over Port Clinton: Haas has always preached one game at a time. Never look past any opponent. But the one thing that is vital, especially come tournament time, is being prepared for the next game once it comes. Haas can never get enough on an opponent. He's had his eye on Port Clinton ever since the two teams scrimmaged in the preseason. And he knows about Wauseon, which could be a big hurdle down the line. He probably knows Bellevue as well as he knows his own team. You hear about how much time coaches put in. Bill Belichick and Joe Gibbs of the National Football League come to mind. Sleeping in your office and never seeing your family. All good coaches put in the time. The key is not how much time you put in, but what you do with your time. Nobody does it better than Haas when it comes to preparation. Look at last season. The Flashes were a good team at best. But they came on strong to earn a share of the NOL title with Shelby, then they got hot during the tournament and were a heartbeat — plus one call — away from earning a fourth trip to Columbus and the Final Four. Talk about getting the most our of your talent. Watching Bob Haas in March is a pleasure. This is the way basketball was meant to be played. Haas is like a conductor on the floor. The players are his symphony. Let the music begin. Outside of Willard, Haas was the man everybody loved to hate. That's what happens when somebody wins so many games and shatters the dreams of one opponent after another. There were many players who moved into Willard, prompting Shelby to turn in the Flashes to the Ohio High School Athletic Association for illegal recruiting in 1988. This was from a story I wrote on Nov. 29, 1988: Willard Superintendent Jerry Stackhouse confirmed Monday that his school has been investigated by the OHSAA. "I would just rather not make any comment about it, he said. "I will confirm we did receive a response back from the state and they found it to be completely unfounded." The case revolved around senior Derek Heath, who transferred to Willard this season from Buckeye Central High School. Heath's father, Dick, was the basketball coach at Buckeye Central, but his contract was not renewed after last season. Unable to land another coaching job, Heath moved with his son so Derek could play basketball for coach Bob Haas. Dick Heath still teaches at Buckeye Central. Junior Mark Briegel, a teammate of Heath's last year, also moved from the Buckeye Central School District with his father to Willard so he could play with the Flashes. A third transfer at Willard, senior John Wilken, played at South Central last season. Wilken's family did not move, but he is paying tuition to attend Willard. Derek Heath said he was never recruited by Willard. "Nope," he said. "It was entirely my decision. Dad left it up to me. I could have stayed and played at Buckeye. It was my decision. "The education at Willard is 10 times better than at Buckeye. After they fired Dad there was no way I was going back. That was really my main reason. I can't speak for Mark." It was the first official complaint filed against Willard, but it is not the first time players have transferred to the school and then participated on the basketball team. Other players who have moved to Willard since the 1979-80 basketball season were the Augspurger brothers, Tony and Tosh, Noland Robinson, Wes Johnson and Joel Guth. Stackhouse said the case "is now closed," and that he is tired of all of this talk. "Anytime you are successful ... there is no question there are people who move into our school district, some for academic reasons and some because they want their sons to play on the basketball team. "And we do have kids who move away from Willard. You never hear about the kids who move in who want to be part of our academics. When it is athletics it comes more of a public issue." Haas defended his program. "My thoughts are we did absolutely nothing wrong," he said. "We in no way want to break the rules or the spirit of the rules. To the best of my knowledge we have not. ... Had this come out any other way I would have fought until the day I die because I have done nothing wrong. In no way did I do anything to entice these kids to Willard other than to run a first-class program and win lots of games." After his retirement Haas was hired to coach at St. Paul, but he stepped down before coaching a single game. Haas never publicly said why he stepped down just one week before the season. After coaching, Haas spent many years on the radio, at first with longtime partner Mike Adelman. Like he was as a coach, Haas was well prepared for games on radio and he painted a picture of what was going on. He was as good of an announcer as he was a coach. Bob Haas will be missed. He was more than a legend. He was a friend, and I will miss him. Don Danhoff, a 1977 Willard High School graduate, played for Haas. "There are a multitude of people he touched ... just his way of going about things," Danhoff said. "His practices were down to the second. His influence in my life was tremendous and I am sure there are hundreds of other boys who can say that. "I started out teaching and coaching and I think I got that job (at Southeastern High School) because he was down there. That is where Bob started. I coached there and, in fact, I dedicated my first win to him. "Bob coached a state championship baseball team at Southeastern. Quite a legacy wherever he has been." Joe Centers is Reflector community editor. He can be reached at jcenters@norwalkreflector.com.