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Coach Blender has earned his way into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall Of Fame 2020
Raritan- Coach Jay Blender will join a league of the most outstanding coaches across Illinois who have been recognized by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame as the best and most influential players, teams, coaches, media, officials, and friends of basketball in Illinois history. Since 1973, a new Hall of Fame class has been inducted every year.
Coach Blender will be honored at the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's annual Hall of Fame Banquet in Bloomington at ISU's Redbird Arena on Saturday, May 2nd along with 23 other Illinois coaches at the 2020 Hall of Fame induction class, and our IBCA Coach of the Year Award Winners will be celebrated.
IBCA also hand out three other awards: the Rolinski Lifetime Achievement Award, the Herrins Award, and the Derril Kipp Courage Award. IBCA invites everyone to be in attendance to help them celebrate basketball in Illinois and the great contributions of so many individuals like Coach Blender.
Blender said he coached for 35 years in Henderson County, first at Union High School for 4 years, then was hired at Southern until the consolidation, and continued on coaching the combined schools at West Central until the end of the girls season in 2017 when he retired.
"Coaching was always a big part of my life," Blender said, "coaching at the high school and middle schools, boys and girls throughout my career. I loved sports and played all sports at Southern, football, basketball, and track, but basketball was my favorite," he said.
Coach Blender said he began coaching Elementary and Jr. High and as they grew, his style and philosophy developed over time at practice and he worked hard to develop his man to man defense. He enjoyed being able to work with everyone of his teams, he said.
"I loved the game of basketball and it was something I worked year around on with clinics, books, video tapes, looking for something that will improve our teams. I loved it and the excitement it brought about in the gym."
He said, "I strived every night for improvement and asked the kids to do the best they could and to be a team player, share the basketball all the time." He said the sport teaches you a lot about life and disappointment, happiness, goals you've achieved from hard work, and lessons learned."
Blender would tell them it doesn't matter who scores and they understood, he said. His teams usually learned their role as a player and tried to play it well. The more they worked, the better they would be.
Blender said after a hard loss he would go over the statistics, videos, talk about free throws or if they were out-rebounded or were they hustling hard enough. You go back to the drawing board and have some long work sessions and try to build your team into one unit where they depend on each other. We set our goal to improve so we can win the Regional and the conference championships. We liked to have pride as a team, and have a good defense, and the kids worked toward that.
Blender continued, "I was really blessed to have good teams, good kids, and fans and parents, and administration along with assistants helping me such as Monty Klossing who was my scorekeeper for 25 years, someone you can just depend on." Blender said. "I am grateful for all of their support."
"There were 800 plus ball games, way too many practices to count," Blender said, mentioning summer camps and summer open gyms as well. It was an advantage when you have others who work with you that love the sport. That connection with others helped with the success."
On Blender's retirement, he had posted 401 high school varsity wins (520 wins overall).
Former WC Principal Scott Schneider said at Blender's last home game when he retired coaching duties:
He is constantly running through plays in his mind and writing new plays down.
I think a few lessons that stand out with Coach Blender or some "Blenderisms," if you will, are:
1. "You have to rebound"
2. "Don't ever trail"
3. Never tell an official "I have forgotten more about basketball than you have ever learned"
4. When you are in the game and you hear from the bench "Get her outta there" you realize he is talking about you, you better hustle off the court and sit right next to him on the bench where he will then usually tell you that you are doing a good job, but this is how you can do it better
5. One of the most common "Don't screen air"
6. "Don't stop believing"
7. And most importantly
"Now, let's go out and have some fun"!
In 1998, Blender coached the Jr. High girls to 3rd in the State. His ballteams have won several Regionals.
Successes have come coaching both girls and boys. Girls (3 years Union High School) (8 years West Central High School), boys (16 years at Southern High School, Fresh-Soph (2 years Union High School), Jr. High boys (1 year Tri-Valley Middle School); and 7th and 8th grade girls (5 years Southern Jr. High). Coach laughed, "Lots of bus rides!"
"We had a lot of team members that strived to be their best. It's so hard to pick a group or team. I enjoyed them all. They worked hard."
Having such a long and successful career as a coach, Blender has many local members to thank as influences:
"My parents (Jim and Sammy Blender) were both very supportive," he said. His two high school coaches. Coach Clifton in basketball who had the gym open a lot, we were able as kids to get in and play and shoot, and Will Bavery, Blender's football coach in high school. "We had a lot of success there in the mid-70s."
"So those two probably were the two that most influenced me to be a coach and be a part of it. Bill Reichow and Terry Glasgow at Monmouth College were big influences as well."
Blender said, "Henderson County is a great county to live in. I am so grateful for everyone." He said the award into the Hall of Fame came as a shock. His wife first saw it on Facebook before he was contacted.
Former Superintendent Wendell Torrance who grew up outside Raritan said he came to work at Southern the same year Jay Blender was interviewing for coach and remembers it well. "I knew his family well having gone to the same one-room school was his father Jim Blender and I knew his mother Sammy. They were a good family, and Jay has been a great coach to work with at Southern. I knew we couldn't go wrong. He was an all-around good individual and proved cooperative to work with. I can't say enough good about him," Torrance said.
Coach Blender will be honored on Saturday, May 2nd in Bloomington at ISU's Redbird Area along with the rest of the Class of 2020 being inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Before the Hall of Fame Banquet, the West Central School District is honoring Coach Blender for the outstanding recognition of his accomplishments by hosting a Hall of Fame Recognition Night during the WC boys games on Friday, February 14th between the JV and Varsity games against Mercer County Golden Eagles.
Coach Blender joins a list of the most elite coaches in Illinois history.
A few in the area:
Chuck Grant: Inducted 2018
Roseville High School
Monmouth High School
Monmouth-Roseville HS
Ron Ferguson: 1973
(Dolton) Thornridge HS
Bradley University
John Harold Griffin
Inducted: 1976
Teutopolis High School
Don Morris
Inducted: 1975
Category: Coaches
(Rock Island)
Alleman High School
Norman Ziebell: 1973
(Cicero) Morton HS
Moline High School
Name: Robert Wixom
Inducted: 1978
Category: Coaches
Rushville High School
Table Grove High School
LeRoy Morley: 1973
Colchester High School
Watseka High School
Western Illinois Univ.
Mike Miller:2013
(Rockton) Hononegah HS
(Rockford) Guilford HS
Galesburg High School
Elgin High School
Mike Martin: 2014
(Canton) Ingersoll MS
John Thiel: 1973
Galesburg High School
Matt Long: 2019
Category: Coaches
(Camp Point) Central HS
(Augusta) Southeastern HS
Ray Hanson : 1976
US Marine Corps
Western Illinois Univ.
Ray "Rock" Hanson coached WIU from 1926-1946. Along with famed Coach Phog Allen of Kansas, Hanson originated today's 10-second rule in basketball.
A retired Marine corps colonel, Ray earned a Navy Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart for his service during WWI. Hanson served as athletic director at Western from 1926-1962 and had the school's athletic field, Hanson Field, named after him.
During his tenure, Ray recruited the first African-American athletes to the Macomb campus. Ray Hanson passed away on January 4, 1982.
Eric Orne:Inducted 2017
(Quincy) Notre Dame High School
West Central High School is asking you to join them at the West Central high school gymnasium, Biggsville, Friday, February 14 to help celebrate Coach Jay Blender's upcoming induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame 2020. Enjoy watching the West Central Heat basketball boys compete against the Mercer County Golden Eagles. At the conclusion of the JV game, Coach Blender will be honored between the Junior Varisty and Varsity games, approximately 7 p.m. The J.V. game begins at 6:00 p.m. The above photo was taken during recognition February 1, 2016 of Mr. Blender's retirement from coaching at West Central's last home girls basketball game. Coach Blender will be inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame Class of 2020 on Saturday, May 2nd in Bloomington at ISU's Redbird Arena along with 23 others. -file photo by Dessa Rodeffer/The Quill.