Indiana's Bill Green remembered for his effect on kids, innovation on the court

Indiana coaching legend Bill Green, who died late Thursday at age 77 from a massive stroke, will long be remembered not only for his record six state basketball championships, but for his lifetime influence on players.

Dave Colescott, who led Marion (Ind.) to state titles in 1975 and 1976, told MaxPreps, "I'm not doing very well. I'm going to miss him a lot. He was a great man. You've got to have a leader and as a person he helped me a lot. He tried to make me a better person and player. I hate to lose a person so important and influential in my life.

"He started cutting my hair in the eighth grade (when long hair was the style). He told me that rednecks ruled and he was a redneck. He was a lot better basketball coach than he was a barber."

Ironically, Bill Green had red hair.



After leaving Marion, Green returned to lead the Giants to three more state titles (1985-86-87), which tied the state record for consecutive championships. That team was led by All-State performers Lyndon Jones and Jay Edwards.

Garry Donna, longtime publisher of Hoosier Basketball Magazine, called Green "one of a kind. He's known by the general public for how many state championships he won, but among the coaches and hard-core fans he was known for his match-up zone. He was an innovator in that sense. He had the players, but you've also got to be able to coach and be a motivator.

"He was the same person after winning his sixth state championship that he was before he won his first. My biggest memory is the day that the IHSAA passed the rule to have a class tournament. He was interviewed and said, 'They just took the state out of the state finals.' "

When Green was coaching at Indianapolis Cathedral, he was offered the freshman coaching position at the University of Oklahoma, according to Donna. The pay was so low that he couldn't afford to take the job, but he recommended his freshman coach, John McLeod, who took the position. His freshman team, featuring future NBA star, Alvan Adams, beat the varsity in their annual pre-season scrimmage. He and Adams were linked closely and two years later Adams left college for the Phoenix Suns - under the condition that McLeod would be named head coach.

Timing is everything, Donna noted.

George McGinnis was Green's most famous player. Before he left for a brilliant career at Indiana University and professional basketball, McGinnis teamed with talented Steve Downing to help Green notch his first state title at Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) in 1969.



McGinnis noted, "Obviously, he was one of the giants of Indiana high school basketball. He was a good person. He had a good effect on so many kids. They all loved him."

Green had left his retirement home in Sebring, Fla., to visit family and friends in the Indianapolis area where he died.

McGinnis said that his former coach had visited the 1969 Washington players twice and had planned one more visit before he headed back for Florida.

He revealed, "He brought memorabilia with him and everybody took some home. I got the original eight millimeter film from the championship game."

Colescott summed up Green's impact when he noted, "He had a lot of friends in a lot of places. We loved him a lot."