Bernie Tarr adds national title to basketball coaching resume
By Steve Ruman
In the mid-1990’s, Bernie Tarr established himself as one of the top coaches in northeast Ohio. The Niles native and Girard graduate was a head coach at Badger, Hubbard and Bedford St. Peter Chanel, where he compiled a career record of 258-154. Three of his teams won regional championships.
You can now add a national title to Tarr’s resume.
Tarr currently resides in Belize, where he serves as the country’s national basketball technical officer. This past fall, he took on the added task of coaching Belmopan Comprehensive High School.
Last Saturday, Tarr guided his team to a 65-50 win over Ecumenical in the Belize High School national title game. The victory capped off a perfect season for Comprehensive.
Tarr has been associated with Belize since he held his first camp there in 1995. He noted that interest in the sport “has grown by leaps and bounds” over the past 17 years. Still, there are major differences between basketball in the United States and Belize.
All of Belize’s high school tournament games were held at outdoor venues. Tarr’s regional semifinal game was halted on two occasions because of loose dogs on the court. When his star player suffered an ankle injury before halftime of the national title game, Tarr asked a trainer to tape the ankle. The player returned, mended with duct tape.
Tarr found irony that his school belongs to a conference which includes Belize Christian Academy, Our lady of Guadalupe and Belmopan Baptist High.
“I coach at a public school in a league which includes a Christian, a Baptist and a Catholic school. And people in Ohio said that I had to coach at a private school to be successful,” Tarr quipped.
SMITH HITS THE HARDWOOD
Quite often, high profile football players who have already committed to a major university choose not to participate in other sports.
De’Veon Smith took a completely opposite route.
After not playing basketball since junior high, Smith is back on the hardwood. The Howland senior, who last spring verbally committed to play football at Michigan, is receiving considerable playing time with the Tigers.
Last month, Smith was tabbed the Division II Player of the Year after rushing for 1,751 yards and 25 touchdowns.
“I just wanted to do something that would keep me active and in shape,” Smith said. “It beats sitting around, and I like the game. I always liked playing basketball.”
Smith initially wondered if Michigan coaches would express concern about the possibility of being injured. Instead, they were pleased with his decision to continue his high school athletic career.
“The coaches were actually pretty happy,” Smith said. “They saw it as a way to work on and improve my footwork.”
So, how does Smith grade his basketball talents?
“Well, I’ve always been more of a defensive player than a scorer, so I’m holding my own,” Smith said. “I know this. The game is a lot faster than it was at the middle school level.
THE PRICE IS RIGHT
All signs pointed to a rebuilding season for Niles McKinley. The Red Dragons underwent a coaching change, and returned just one starter from a team which went 3-18 a year ago.
Instead, the Dragons have already exceeded their win total of a year ago. They are 4-2, are their two losses were by a combined three points.
Niles coach Ron Price, who also guided the Dragons from 1999 to 2006, said the fast start is a credit to his players’ willingness to buy into a new system.
“We’ve thrown a lot of things at them in a short period of time, but they’ve taken it all in and they’ve been willing to adapt,” Price said. “We also really stressed the need to be unselfish, and again, they have responded.”
Price noted that team shooting was a major concern during summer workout sessions.
“We had balls ending up in garbage cans,” Price said. “We had one ball end up outside, stuck under a parked car. We simply had to become a better shooting team, both from the field and free throw line. In that regard, we are showing improvement.”
In last Friday’s one-point loss to Brookfield, Niles was 8-of-20 from the free throw line. Tuesday in an overtime win against Girard, the Red Dragons converted 20-of-24 free throws.
Niles returns to action tonight when it travels to Beaver Local.