Whitmer resigns as Columbiana’s basketball coach
By JOHN BASSETTI
bassetti@vindy.com
COLUMBIANA
Eric Whitmer turned in his resignation before he turned into a statistic.
“I was worn out from the intensity of three years,” said the 49-year-old who turned in his letter of resignation as Columbiana High’s boys basketball coach on Monday.
“I have to be able to do the job the way I feel it has to be done — with a lot of passion and energy,” said Whitmer, whose latest three-year stint with the Clippers followed an initial three-year stretch at Columbiana from 1993-95.
“Toward the last third of the season, I didn’t have the energy to do the job I felt I needed to get done,” said Whitmer. “I expect a lot of my kids, but I also expect a lot out of myself. When I was yelling at the kids, I felt I was simultaneously yelling at myself. I realized it was time to take a break. There will be opportunities down the road, I’m sure.”
Whitmer won two Inter-County League titles and two district titles in the 1990s, then an ITCL title and district crown during the 2007-08 season when the Clippers beat McDonald for the Div. IV district championship and set a school record for wins in a season. Columbiana then lost the next game in a regional semifinal and finished 22-2.
“I’ve been blessed to have some really good players at Columbiana both times around and fortunate to have quite a bit of success.”
Whitmer is director of the Opportunity School in Lisbon, a facility that works with alternative school students.
His overall record at Columbiana was 101-32. He also coached at Lisbon, as well as Jackson-Milton, both boys and girls.
“I’ve been around a little bit,” said the man whose recent decision to step down will give him time to watch his daughter, Lea, who will be a junior on the Mineral Ridge girls basketball team next season.
“My kids [boys team] were playing Tuesdays and Fridays and my daughter was playing on Mondays and Thursdays. It gets to be a bit much.”
Whitmer is pulling for his varsity assistant, Grant Spaite, to be the next head coach.
“He was my point guard in 1993,” Whitmer said of Spaite, who was a senior player at Columbiana that year.
“Hopefully, Columbiana will give Grant an opportunity to take over for me. He did a great job with the kids.”
Spaite was previously a head coach at Springfield Local.
Also for the past three years, Whitmer’s son, Andrew, has been Columbiana’s junior varsity coach.
Whitmer, a 1979 graduate of Mogadore High School, comes from a coaching family.
His father, Don, coached 50-plus consecutive years in the Akron area and is a Twinsburg Hall of Fame inductee.
Whitmer’s other three brothers are in the same arena, including the youngest — Tony, the girls basketball coach at Green, which won a district championship this year.
Whitmer repeated his gratitude for his time at Columbiana.
“I had tremendous support from the administrators and parents. You can’t win without talent, but Columbiana not only had very talented kids, but kids who were good kids from good families.
“It’s tough to walk away, but I go at it pretty passionately. That’s why I’m worn out. I plan to do nothing for at least a year.”