Published: December 27, 2008 04:34 am         

MARK MAYNARD: Cole's Tomcat legacy secure 12/27/08

When Harold Cole left Ashland back in 1972, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever return.

It wasn’t that Cole didn’t like Ashland because he did. A lot.

But after 16 seasons of coaching high school basketball — including seven at Ashland — he took his career in another direction as a state employee in Christian County.

That’s why Cole admits to being both humbled and surprised when he was asked to come back to Ashland as a Distinguished Tomcat honoree.

“You never know if you’re remembered or not,” he said. “I’ll see all the people I thought I’d never see again.”

Cole, 77, coached the Tomcats during the golden era of the 1960s. He won four 16th Region titles from 1965 to 1972 and went 4-4 in Sweet Sixteen games. Ashland reached the state semifinals in 1969 before dropping a heartbreaking 82-80 game to Ohio County.

“I think of that game every time I think about basketball,” Cole said. “We had a nice lead. In those days, we ran the fastbreak, the old Marshall fastbreak. My college coach was a graduate of Marshall who played under Cam Henderson. It’s the same break that Bob Wright used. We pressed and ran. Back in those days, they let you run under a guy after he went into the air.”

But in the State Tournament, Ashland guards Johnny Mullins and Fred Leibee got in foul trouble because of charges.

“They fouled two guards out and we had to move (Ray) Kleykamp from forward to guard. That made us weaker inside.”

Cole said the Tomcats probably couldn’t have beaten Louisville Central in the finals, but he would have liked the chance.

“I thought we had a team that could compete better with Louisville Central than Ohio County,” he said.

Cole, who followed Wright as Ashland’s coach in the 1964-65 season, had a 171-46 record in seven seasons, winning 79 percent of his games. That ranks third behind Wright (85 percent in six seasons) and Paul Jenkins (90 percent in three seasons).

His last Tomcat team in 1972 was ranked No. 1 in the state but lost to Russell 80-75 in the regional championship game in Morehead.

“We would have had a chance that year of going far in the state tournament, maybe even winning the state tournament,” Cole said. “But we didn’t get that far. That’s the way it works.”

Cole remembers the battles with Marvin Meredith at Russell and Jack Fultz at Olive Hill.

“Jack’s team was one of the tough teams to get over,” he said. “He was a tough competitor. He’d slow it down on you. He knew we’d like to run. If you let Jack stay in the game, he’s got as good a chance as you had of winning.

“Russell had good teams back then, too. That was a great rival game. Even before the B-team game the house would be packed. Marvin had some good players at Russell. The year they beat me, they shot well. It was one of those games.”

But it was during his last season that Cole said he enjoyed his “coaching peak.”

After winning the Ashland Invitational Tournament, the Tomcats were invited to the Fayette County Invitational at Henry Clay and defeated Bryan Station (coached by Bob Barlow), Henry Clay (coached by Al Prewitt) and Lafayette (coached by Jock Sutherland) on successive nights.

“That’s what I think of as my most satisfying moment as a coach,” he said. “That week was a big peak week for me. I’ll never forget that.”

Cole’s honor at the AIT will be at halftime of tonight’s game between Ashland and Beechwood. There will be a reception following the Ashland game for former players and friends at the school.

“I never really thought this kind of thing would happen,” Cole said. “I feel honored to be identified with the Tomcat tradition. I thought about that every game, every practice, trying to uphold the great tradition that Ashland basketball had.

“Sometimes players want to ride on that tradition that somebody else established. We tried to keep that from happening. We told them to establish their own identity and not piggyback on what somebody else did. Do your own. Get your own recognition. I think we did that.”

Cole, who lives in Somerset, said he has no regrets about his high school coaching career at Knox Central and Ashland. He took Knox Central to the State Tournament the year before the Tomcats hired him.

Cole’s assistant coaches from 1969 to 1972 were Steve Gilmore and Randy Williams.

“They both were terrific, supportive coaches,” Cole said. “They assisted me and ran the junior varsity program. We had an understanding. They would tell me what they thought and I wanted to know what they were thinking. But if I don’t go with you here, you support whatever decision I make. They did that, too.”

Gilmore, the current superintendent of schools and former Ashland mayor, would follow Cole as Ashland’s head basketball coach from 1972 to 1975.

MARK MAYNARD can be reached at mmaynard@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2648.

     

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