Storlie reflects on shot clock proposal, Petitgoue’s legacy

Over four decades into a Hall of Fame coaching career, Randy Storlie’s passion for basketball — both the actual coaching and advocating on the direction of the sport in Wisconsin — remains as high as ever.

Later this year, Storlie will enter his 43rd season as the head boys basketball coach at Blair-Taylor as the state’s active leader in career wins, with his total of 665 leaving him 110 ahead of Oostburg’s Kevin Bruggink in second on the list of current coaches.

On top of that, Storlie is continuing in his role as the president of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) for a term that lasts until April of next year. As part of the WBCA leadership, Storlie is continuing to push for a pair of measures that failed to get WIAA approval earlier this summer: the implementation of a shot clock and the expansion of the state tournament.

Storlie is a strong proponent of both measures and, with regards to the shot clock, feels like it’s only a matter of time before it is implemented in the state. Opponents of bringing the shot clock to high school basketball in Wisconsin often cite the costs of implementation and potential difficulty in finding volunteers to run the clocks during games.

These factors are not lost on Storlie given his role as Blair-Taylor’s athletic director, but he does not think they are cause to avoid shot clock implementation. He points out that over 30 states have either already introduced the shot clock or are in the process of doing so, yet none of them have reversed course and repealed it.

“Wisconsin is starting to fall behind in high school basketball due to the fact we don’t have a shot clock,” Storlie said. “I know that it would cost a few dollars for the schools to put it in, but it wouldn’t be an instantaneous thing. It would be put in in segments in a couple of different years.”

Storlie said he was “disappointed” that the WIAA Advisory Council voted down the shot clock proposal in June. The proposal needs approval from the Advisory Council and Board of Control. Because it’s a rule change that would add costs for schools, it would need to clear one final hurdle: approval from a majority of the full WIAA membership at the April annual meeting.

Storlie noted that over 80 percent of the coaches surveyed by the WBCA were in favor of a shot clock and that the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) might issue a shot clock mandate in the future.

“We’re still very optimistic,” Storlie said. “It’s just not going to happen here the next year, but we’re hoping in the near future it will happen.”

The Advisory Council also voted down a proposal that would have expanded the basketball state tournament to eight teams for all divisions. Under this proposal, the round that is currently sectional finals would become the state tournament quarterfinals. For the boys, those quarterfinal games would be played at the Kohl Center and other sites around the Madison area.

“Ninety-one percent of all the schools who responded to our survey want to have the state tournament expanded,” Storlie said. “There are so many schools that have never been to the state tournament or haven’t been there in decades. And I’m talking maybe a hundred years who haven’t been to the state tournament. And going to the state tournament is such a pride factor for your community, your school, etc.”

As someone in a leadership role with the WBCA, Storlie is adjusting to life since the death of Jerry Petitgoue, the WBCA’s long-time executive director who passed away in early June. Petitgoue won 1,027 games in his six decades as a coach, including 52 years at Cuba City. No one else in the history of Wisconsin high school boys basketball has even coached 1,000 total games, let alone come anywhere close to 1,000 wins.

In addition to the unparalleled coaching success, Petitgoue became of the most influential basketball voices in the state thanks to his role as WBCA executive director.

“There’ll never be another Jerry Petitgoue. His influence on basketball in the state has been overwhelming. He always had time for people and especially young coaches,” Storlie said. “At the funeral, Greg Gard of the Badgers gave the eulogy — it was just unbelievable — and pointed out all the things Jerry meant to everybody. Jerry and I not only were on executive boards together, we were very good friends too.”

Storlie is currently third on the state’s all-time wins list and will move into second with four wins this season. Of course, it’s not the win total that keeps Storlie going, but the love of the game that has played such an important role in his life.

“I just have a passion for the game of basketball. I just love trying to teach kids and teams to play the best that they possibly can and have fun with it,” Storlie said. “It’s a part of my life and I wouldn’t know what to do right now if I didn’t have basketball in there. The support that I get from my wife and my family and everything is keeping me going in it too.”