MHSAA Library
Larner's Journey Serves as Lesson
(Spring 2005)
The handshaking and celebration portion of Holt's Class A state championship season was drawing to an exhausting end Saturday night when coach Bruce Larner finally sat down.
With assistant coach Ben Bakken and their wives surrounding him, and with a piece of pizza in hand, Larner gave out a great sigh – so great that Bakken asked whether it was the heaviest of Larner's life.
“Twenty years of finally,” Bakken called it.
Had Larner started his coaching tenure two years ago instead of 20, “finally” may never have come to Holt's boys basketball program.
These days – and it's getting worse – parents mistake their kids' high school teams for Duke and their children for Michael Jordan or Mia Hamm. Teenagers question their coaches regardless of the team's undefeated record or the banner hanging from the rafters celebrating last year's state title.
More and more, mom and dad go after coaches when their delusions don't come to fruition.
Larner should be a lesson to those people.
He entered the weekend's playoffs with more years coaching his varsity team than any of the 16 coaches at Breslin Center. He won his 200th game in Friday's semifinal, then added another with a 65-62 win over Romulus on Saturday.
Equally unique but much more surprising: Larner also has 239 losses.
He was the only coach at the finals with a losing career record.
“But look at the people who played for him, have been successful and gone beyond. Ask them what they think of Bruce Larner,” said Bakken, who played for two coaches at Kent and another at Wayne State after graduating from Holt in 1995. “I'll tell you, Coach Larner knows as much about the game of basketball, winning and developing kids the right way, as any coach I've played for.”
There are some coaches who simply don't know how, or don't do so well. You hope they are weeded out over time.
But others, such as Larner, take over programs where they must start from scratch. Doing things the right way isn't made easier playing in one of the toughest leagues in the state.
As he approached the trophy stand Saturday, Larner's mind could have drifted to any of a number of examples of how tough it's been.
• To the administrator who told him early on he'd never have the talent to win at Holt.
• To the season a decade ago, when the 6-10 Bakken broke a hip, and a 9-2 start turned into a 12-10 finish.
• To the people in the community who had had enough after only two winning seasons in his first 13.
Holt basketball always had a reputation for hustling teams. But when it came to winning league titles or advancing in the state tournament, hard work couldn't balance out the talent of Everett or Sexton or Waverly or many of Holt's opponents.
The Rams' Capital Area Activities Conference Division 1 championship this winter was their second league title under Larner. They made five District finals in his first 18 years and lost all five, but finally won their first last season.
But Larner's kids were winning in other ways. They improved. They behaved. They became adults.
This season, Larner began assigning themes to every week. The first week of practice it was thankfulness – it was Thanksgiving week and the first after roster cuts.
“He has a lot of energy. And he always makes sure we're doing the right things,” senior Mikhail Eiseler said. “That's our thing. Doing the right thing, making the right decisions.”
Larner's philosophy always has centered on team play. Doing the right thing on the court meant playing within that system instead of going for personal accolades.
Sophomore center Paul Crosby surely will be a star the next two years, but this Holt team didn't have the sure-thing Division I standout champions often lean on. The Rams weren't blessed with a ton of height, and their speed was nullified by other athletic teams.
Larner deftly rotated eight players with differing skills. And he showed his knowledge with the Xs and Os, emphasizing a 1-3-1 zone defense that has been nearly extinct, and then tweaking it so his best defender could run free while his teammates maintained their responsibilities.
It took the right group of kids, and it took Larner having the opportunity to wait for them to arrive. And in a few years he'll get to leave - on his terms and with a legacy.
“Hopefully now people understand what I mean by unselfish player,” Larner said. “Not just in basketball, but it helps in life. You have to learn to give, to sacrifice. It's amazing what you can accomplish when no one cares who gets credit.”
— Geoff Kimmerly
Kimmerly is the prep sports editor
at the Lansing State Journal
Reprinted with permission
