“The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win.” - Coach Bobby Knight
While coach (Steve) Schupp does not necessarily agree with all of coach Knight’s methods and principles, this quote stands out as a common message between the two men. More importantly, the message to their players was not only about basketball, but life. Maybe all high school coaches stress the importance of preparing to excel in the classroom, in the community and on the court, in that order, but my sense is they do not.
In a school district where two individuals have played professional basketball in the last 60 years (or .015 percent of Morton High students during that time), isn’t excellence in the classroom first, community second and lastly on the court the message parents in Morton should want a coach to preach to their son or daughter?
Over 38 years, coach Schupp has impacted the lives of so many boys and girls on their way to becoming productive men and women, the vast majority of whom are grateful for the time and effort he invested in them as students, people and players. He taught us to be accountable to one another and be respectful towards one another, our opponents and officials. He taught us to give our best effort because it was special to play with your best friends and that our play represented a community because we had “Morton” on our uniform.
Looking back, 11 years now, I don’t remember the win/loss record of any of the basketball teams I played on. I know we won the conference championship during the 1998-99 season, but more than anything, I remember coach Schupp telling us weekly, if not daily, that preparation is rewarded in the long run.
He said: “Everybody wants an A on the test. Everybody wants to win the game on Friday. Can you look in the mirror and say you prepared hard enough to deserve it?”
Coach, on behalf of the overwhelming majority of students and players who had the opportunity to learn from you in the classroom and various athletic venues, THANK YOU for everything you taught us! We are better people, students, friends, husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters because of you.
J.R. Sauder
Morton
