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Longtime Racine St. Catherine's coach Letsch opts to retire

06/21/2016, 4:30pm CDT
By Mark Miller

First Tom Desotell. 

And now Bob Letsch. 

Two of the giants of high school coaching in the boys' basketball world in Wisconsin are now retired.

Letsch announced his retirement today, two months after Desotell did the same at Sheboygan North.

With the retirement of Letsch (661 career victories) and Desotell (646 career wins), the Nos. 2 and 3 coaches in all-time victories in the state of Wisconsin are now out of the game.

Jerry Petitgoue remains active and begins his 50th season of coaching high school basketball in Wisconsin in the fall as the all-time leader in wins with 899.

"I've decided to retire," Letsch said Tuesday evening after watching St. Catherine's compete in the Whiz Kids League of Champions at Milwaukee School of Engineering. "After coaching football, basketball and baseball at St. Catherine's for the past 51 years, it's time for someone young. I just don't have the energy any more because of the problems I've had with my legs."

Letsch, who turns 73 next month, underwent surgery in 2008 for spinal stenoisis. He spent the past 37 seasons as the head coach of the Angels' basketball program after serving as an assistant under the late John McGuire for many years.

He guided St. Catherine's to state titles in the now-defunct Wisconsin Independent Schools Athletic Association (WISAA) in 1985, 1992 and 1993, along with runners-up finishes in 1983, 1987 and 2000.

Since joining the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) following the 1999-2000 school year, St. Catherine's is 11-1 in six state-tournament appearances under Letsch.

The Angels won the WIAA Division 2 state title in 2005 and captured Division 3 state crowns in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010. St. Catherine's finished second in 2011.

"Two things come to mind when I think about preparing for teams coached by Bob Letsch," said Paul Wollersheim, the former coach at Whitefish Bay Dominican and now the head coach at Martin Luther in Greendale who first went up against Letsch in the 1995-96 season. "The first is how well disciplined his teams always were. The second was how hard they always played. 

"Bob's kids were always going to play really good defense and share the ball on offense."

Letsch, who played and graduated from St. Catherine's in 1961, had the privilege of coaching some of the best players in the history of prep basketball in Wisconsin.

Dave Mueller was a 6-foot-8 all-state center who helped the Angels to a WISAA title in 1985 before going on to play at Michigan State.  

Jim McIlvaine made it all the way to the NBA following his prep career at St. Catherine's and collegiate career at Marquette. The 7-foot-0 McIlvaine helped the Angels to state-tournament berths in WISAA in 1989 and 1990. 

Marcus West was a dynamic point guard at 5-foot-10 who helped St. Catherine's to WISAA titles in 1992 and 1993 and later played at Marquette. Kevin Griffin, an athletic 6-3 forward, also played on the title teams in 1992 and 1993 and later played at Northern Iowa. 

Point guard Sharif Chambliss (6-1) helped the Angels to a runner-up finish in the final year of WISAA in 2000 and later played at both Penn State and Wisconsin.

St. Catherine's first WIAA state-title team in 2005 featured three future NCAA Division I players in Devron Bostick (6-4), who played at Minnesota; Cordero Barkley (6-5), who played at Green Bay; and James Haarsma (6-4), who played at Milwaukee.

The 2007 state-title team also featured three Division I players -- Jake Thomas (6-3), who played at South Dakota State and Marquette; Patrick Souter II (6-0), who played at Milwaukee; and Haarsma.

Letsch's final championship team in 2010 also boasted a pair of Division I players in Steve McWhorter (6-2), who played at Indiana State and Milwaukee; and Jordan Fouse (6-4), who just completed a stellar four-year career at Green Bay.

"Bob had some great players over the years," said Wollersheim, who won 12 of 19 games against Letsch. "Every time I saw him in the summer, he would always have former players around him. He had a very special relationship with his players."

Letsch recognized the talent he had at St. Catherine's, but also had some teams that didn't win conference or state championships.

His final team at St. Catherine's finished 8-15 with an extremely young lineup.

"The biggest thing about my time at St. Catherine's is I've had great kids to coach, in all three sports," Letsch said. "There is not a kid in my 51 years of coaching who I didn't want to coach. 

"It's been a great ride. I've had great assistant coaches, a great Booster Club to work with, great administrators and a tremendous faculty."

Letsch is hoping his long-time assistant coach, Ryan Thompson, is considered as his replacement.

Thompson is a 1994 St. Catherine's graduate who has spent the past 21 years on the Angels' coaching staff.

" Ryan gets the kids to work hard and play hard," Letsch said. "I hope he gets the job. He has done an incredible job in our program the past 21 seasons."

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