When coach is father to the player

Ask me 10 years from now what I remember most about the Class A schoolboy basketball tournament and State Championship game of 1992, and I know already what I’ll answer.

The Reeds.

It would be hard to forget Mark Reed, the 6-foot-3 junior guard of the Bangor Rams, who dribbled deftly upcourt against pressure and methodically fired jump shots that dove through the ring in a splash of nylon. Caribou. Old Town. Waterville. All fell in Reed’s wake. South Portland needed five overtimes and a senior transfer from New York to subdue him.

It would be easier to forget Roger Reed, coach of Bangor and father of Mark. Coach Reed’s low-key approach and quiet bench demeanor relegated him to the background and kept his players in the spotlight. Not a bad way for a coach to operate. Some Bangorites, however, mistook Coach Reed’s style for proof he was just another nice guy who couldn’t win the tournament. That is, until he directed the Rams into their first state game in 30 years.

The more I watched them, the more the Reeds intrigued me.

There have been lots of other father-child/coach-player combinations at Eastern Maine high schools over the years. Most any year you can find a handful in several sports. We here at NEWS central have dealt with enough of them to know they generally fall into two categories:

The kid can play, therefore the coach-father can’t stop talking about him (or her). Or the kid can’t play, and little is said about the relationship at all, except perhaps by disgruntled parents in the community who feel their kid didn’t make the team because the coach’s kid did.

What makes the Reeds unusual is the kid most definitely can play, and the coach most definitely does not promote his son. In fact, quite the opposite.

True story No. 1: Before Mark entered Bangor High (the Reeds live in Glenburn), Roger offered him the option of going to Hampden Academy so he would not have to play for his father.

“I said it would be okay with me and it might be easier for you,” recalled Roger, who has coached the Rams to a 100-40 record in seven seasons at Bangor. “I told him I’m sure there’s going to be criticism.”

Mark never considered it an option to play for anyone else.

“My father coached me in everything from the time I was 6 or 7,” said Mark. “I’ve been coached by others. But he is my coach.”

True story No. 2: Roger Reed would not have taken Mark on the varsity as a freshman if no fewer than seven other Bangor school system coaches and several upperclassmen on the team hadn’t insisted Mark was good enough to play at that level.

“Roger is a sensitive man,” said Bangor assistant coach Jeff Ingalls.”He was worried about what people would think. We told him we had to plan for the future. Plus, Mark was good enough to play on the varsity.”

True story No. 3: Coach Reed kept his son on the bench as a freshman rather than unseat an upperclassmen who had started for two years, even though he believed Mark was better.

“Mark never knew when he was going to play,” said Coach Reed. “I wanted him to learn fairness. I thought this was the only way I could teach it to him. He was just another member of the team.”

If all of this makes the Reeds sound too good to be true, it’s the last thing they’d want. Their ethic is very real.

Roger Reed, a man of strong Christian values, taught his son/player not only how to play basketball, but to understand that life is never as simple as a game.

When Mark Reed sought out South Portland forward John Wassenbergh after the latter had helped beat Bangor in that unforgettable state game, when Reed said to his foe, “you did a great job” unknowingly in front of the TV cameras, he reminded us what good parenting, as well as good coaching is all about.

That’s what I’ll remember about the ’92 Class A tournament.