Joe Babinski's message has been well-received for four decades

Joe Babinski has seen the game change quite a bit in nearly four decades of coaching, but he always tried to instill the same message over and over before calling it quits this year.

"I will miss working with young men...old people are no fun," he said. "Probably, what I will miss the most, is experiencing a group of young men working together and a commitment to each other to be the best team they can be."

The Perry (Gilbert) coach announced last week that after 39 years, including the last four at Perry, where he had a 78-34 record, he was moving on from coaching.

"Yes, I am retiring," he said in an email on Friday. "Perry Is a great place to teach and coach but 39 years as a head coach is enough."

Most of this career was spent in Oklahoma for 32 years, where he won a total of 431 games.

Babinski, who raised two daughters (Aimee and Aniella) as a single father after his wife died of cancer, started out at Owasso in 1974 before moving on to Bixby, Tahlequah, Jay and Catossa.

The game has changed since those early days in Oklahoma.

"The objective in that day was to get the closest open shot," said Babinski, 65. "The game was to pass the ball and set picks to get that open shot. The big players played inside and the shorter players played outside. After the 3-point shot was implemented, it opened the game up, making teams have to spread defensively. Offensively, still a pass and pick game.

"With the rule changes allowing players more freedom with their dribble and letting them hop to score created today's game of penetration and shooting 3's."

He clearly adapted with the times. Before coming to Perry, he coached seven years at Desert Edge (Goodyear), where he went 144-56 and led the Scorpions to the 2008 state title.

"Obviously, a 180 degree change," he said. "Today's players are better athletes and more skilled but are often caught up in the 'see me' world, whereas in the old days players played not to be seen and team winning was the ultimate accomplishment."

Babinski, who finished with 653 career wins, was born in Tucson and attended Palo Verde High School. After high school he graduated from Arizona Western, and then earned his teaching degree with a math major at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma.

From there he became an assistant at Owasso where he began a four-decade run as a mentor, coach, father and friend for countless young men, many of whom he is still in touch with and/or went into coaching because of the things he taught them about the game and life. His coaching style was well respected among his peers and many of the local coaches gave a salute via social media, but they also don't expect him to disappear from the game altogether.

"He is an honest, straightforward man, and a positive force for young people," Corona del Sol coach Neil MacDonald said. "He will be missed, but as he told myself and a few coaches last week, we will probably see him in the stands from time to time, in between mountain biking and golfing, smiling and stress-free, enjoying the games."

Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic sports writer and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com.