Hiland legend Keith Troyer moves west to coach Knights
It just sat dormant for a few years as his kids grew up.
Now that he feels he has more time to dedicate to the coaching ranks, he has decided to get back into the profession, and on Wednesday, July 17, became the 13th head basketball coach of the West Holmes Knights boys hoops program.
"I am super excited to get going," said Troyer. "I guess the coaching bug never really leaves."
Troyer was the varsity coach at Hiland High School from 2000-2005, coaching five seasons. His record there was 85-34, a very solid .714 winning percentage.
Troyer's best season was 2002-2003 when he led the Hawks to a 21-4 record including a Regional appearance. However, what he may have been most remembered for was the unenviable task of stepping into the large shoes of legendary coach Perry Reese Jr. after Reese's sudden passing in 2000.
The passing of Reese, whose status was legendary in not just Holmes County but well beyond, left a huge hole in the hearts of Hawks fans.
It was up to Troyer, who had no head coaching experience to fall back on, to get the Hiland players and faithful fans through that first difficult year, which they did, putting together a superb 17-6 record.
Records, however, were secondary to the process of healing and moving on after the loss of Reese.
"That made me grow up pretty quickly as a coach," said Troyer. "That was one of those situations where we just wanted to heal and get the kids through that time of loss. Expectations weren't as high, because everyone knew the situation was a rough one. It wasn't an easy season."
As a player at Hiland, where Troyer was a first-team all-Ohioan, he led the Hawks to the State tournament in 1986 and is currently third on the all-time scoring list with 1,421 points.
He also starred at Malone College, where he was named an All-American in his 1989-90 senior season. In 2002, Troyer was inducted into Malone's Sports Hall of Fame, and his jersey number, 40, has been retired at Hiland.
Troyer was one of two finalists for the Waynedale head coaching position in 2006.
After that, he dedicated himself to watching his sons Grant, 20, and Kyle, 17, grow up and play baseball.
While it has been seven years since he last coached, Troyer, who currently teaches at Winesburg Elementary and has been an assistant varsity baseball coach at Hiland, said it isn't so far removed that he has lost a feel for the game.
"It's been seven years but it doesn't seem all that long," said Troyer. "I was going over some things from when I was at Hiland, and it all comes back pretty quickly.
"The game hasn't changed much. It's still about fundamentals, defense and rebounding."
Troyer said that he will rely on current West Holmes assistant coaches Don Hall and Dustin Geitgey to ease him into the new role. While Troyer has his own philosophy on coaching the game, the two assistant coaches know the personnel and should be a huge asset.
"Coach Lindeman did a great job of building the program up," said Troyer of the former Knights skipper. "Because we are so late in the game, I don't think I will change a lot of things right away. It's a matter of evaluating talent and seeing what we have to work with, and Don and Dustin will help me there a lot."
Troyer was picked from a number of applicants, including three which interviewed in the final decision-making process.
West Holmes athletic director Lee Ann Race said Troyer interviewed well, and said of the hiring, "We are extremely happy and blessed to have Keith on our team. We are fortunate to find an experienced and successful coach of his caliber this late in the game. It couldn't have worked out better for us."
Troyer takes over the Knights who made it to the District finals last season. He will be the sixth coach in the last 12 years at West Holmes. Former coach Jim Lindeman was at West Holmes for four years, compiling a record of 41-50 during that span.
He said he knows there will be expectations, with this being the 50th year of West Holmes basketball, but is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.
With the move from the east side of Holmes County to the West, he also knows he will have a lot of people in the county watching the progress the Knights make.
People won't have to wait long, since the Hawks and Knights are slated to do battle the first game of the season.
"Hopefully our football team will be going deep into the tournament and that game will be bumped back to later in the year," said Troyer with a laugh. "It is what it is. It will be fun. I've already had some people call and harass me in good fun. But that is just a little piece of what I want to do in the long run.
"There's a lot of great people here (West Holmes), who are very supportive of their school and kids, so I am really looking forward to being a part of West Holmes basketball."