By FRED KRONER
Dwayne Gilliland is an anomaly among youth coaches in any sport.
He is not involved because a child or grandchild plays on the team.
It has been that way for more than a decade.
Gilliland recently finished his 25th year as the Prairieview Ogden fifth- and sixth-grade boys’ basketball.
His tenure actually started 26 years ago – in the fall of 1996 – but COVID-19 wiped out the entire 2020 season, so Gilliland had to wait an additional year to reach the quarter-century mark as a coach.
There is a simple explanation for Gilliland’s lengthy coaching career.
“I love teaching the game of basketball,” Gilliland said. “They are at an age where they want to learn and not to the point where they think they know it all.”
Gilliland is working with youngsters who are often experiencing their first taste of organized basketball.
“That in itself is a challenge as well as rewarding,” Gilliland said. “I always ask at the first practice how many have played on a team before.
“It is amazing, but probably 75 percent never have.”
This year provided a challenge that was unique for the veteran PVO coach.
Because COVID-19 caused the cancelation of the 2020 season, Gilliland was not only introducing the fundamentals to an eager group of fifth-graders, but also to sixth-graders who were new to the sport.
The results speak for themselves. The sixth-graders finished their season recently with a 10-0 record. The fifth-graders ended at 6-3.
“I like one-on-one teaching, and a few lessons in life,” Gilliland said. “Life may not always be fair, but make the best of what you are given.”
Coaching has been an exercise in patience for Gilliland.
“You have to realize that not every kid catches on as well as others,” he said.
“The patience that it takes to coach the kids that sometimes have never picked up a basketball before is amazing,” said Gilliland’s son Chase, who coaches the seventh- and eighth-grade boys’ basketball teams at PVO and benefits from getting athletes who are well-schooled in the basics.
Wyatt Dillman is a former PVO player under Dwayne Gilliland. He graduated from St. Joseph-Ogden in 2013. His respect for his former coach was demonstrated when he joined the PVO fifth- and sixth-grade coaching staff six years ago.
Dwayne Gilliland’s philosophies were one of the attractions.
“He loves to win, but that’s not the most important thing,” Dillman said. “He puts the same effort into each of them.
“The thing I love about fifth- and sixth-grade basketball is that the end goal is improving. There is no state series. The key is learning the game.
“He doesn’t only praise the kid who scores 20. He cares about the kid who sets a screen to get someone open or who gets an important rebound.”
PVO superintendent Jeff Isenhower is impressed by the way Gilliland works and interacts with his players.
“When I watch him on the sidelines, I wonder how in the world he still has the energy to keep that coaching passion burning, especially at the fifth- and sixth-grade level,” Isenhower said. “He does not sit down – ever – during a game.
“He coaches each and every kid the same way, as if they were his own sons. It is clear he coaches because he loves the game.”
Dwayne Gilliland passed along his deep passion for basketball to his sons, two of whom coach the PVO middle school teams. Chase Gilliland is the head coach and his brother, Jamey, is an assistant.
“I was one of the kids growing up that always had my dad as my coach,” Chase Gilliland said. “He loved coaching no matter what the sport, so he would try to get involved in whatever sport that I or my brothers were playing.
“I have been watching and going to games for as long as I can remember. It was just a part of life growing up. When fall came, that meant it was almost time for basketball season to start. That is definitely where I get my passion for coaching from.”
The words that Chase Gilliland speaks could easily have been spoken verbatim by his father.
“I love coaching and I love PVO,” Chase Gilliland said. “That comes from my dad. The running joke amongst our wives is that every time we are together this time of year, we are talking about basketball.
“It is just a given too that if my dad does not have a conflict, he will be there to support my brother and the seventh- and eighth-grade team on game night, most of the time keeping the scorebook.”
Dwayne Gilliland is involved in other ways as well.
“On away games, once his season is over, he will always drive the bus to our games and then we will discuss the outcome on the drive home, much like we did when I was a kid riding home in the car after practice and games,” Chase Gilliland said. “I would not trade those conversations for anything.
“I am not sure when he will give up coaching, but I can guarantee that he will not be too far away once he does.”
When Dwayne Gilliland first entered the youth coaching spectrum, it was with the fifth- and sixth-grade girls’ program before Prairieview and Ogden had consolidated.
Several years later, the boys’ coaching position became available and Gilliland worked with each squad for three years.
“There were times he would have girls’ practice at one end of the court and boys’ practice at the other end,” Chase Gilliland said.
Dwayne Gilliland was only a few years into his coaching stint when he started looking ahead.
“My goal at the outset was to coach long enough to coach my boys,” he said. “Then the more I got into it, I realized I was not doing it just for my boys, but for the school, to teach the fundamentals and the enjoyment of coaching.”
He coached his oldest son Chase from 2000-02, followed by Jamey from 2005-06 and Trey from 2008-09.
In some years, when the participation numbers were low, fourth-graders were added to the fifth-grade PVO roster.
“Dwayne is a patient fella,” Isenhower said. “He has three sons, he has to be patient. The players react well to his sense of humor and also to his style of coaching.
“He knows when to get on his players and he knows when they need a pat on the back. That probably comes from all of his experience.”
Dwayne Gilliland’s commitment to basketball extended beyond the coaching world. He played in recreation leagues in Champaign-Urbana and Rantoul three days a week until he was 51.
“I wish I knew what kept Dwayne coming back to coach, other than he has fun with the kids,” Isenhower said. “I know he is a gym rat and only gave up playing himself a few years ago.”
When the fifth- and sixth-grade season concludes, it doesn’t end Dwayne Gilliland’s involvement for the school year.
“If we’re not playing, I’ll drive the bus to (junior high) away games,” said Gilliland, a St. Joseph resident who has a regular bus route transporting school children during the school day as well.
There have been opportunities to coach at the junior high level, but Gilliland has declined to move up.
“Chase and Jamey are so much better than I am,” Dwayne Gilliland said. “I have no desire to do that.
“I like teaching the fundamentals. I like to be behind the scenes and help.”
That is not to say he won’t offer input to his boys from time to time.
“There have been times when his season is over and he jumps right into helping the junior high boys’ season,” Isenhower said. “It has been perfect that his oldest son Chase now coaches our junior high boys as it gives them great father-son time in the gym.”
Dwayne Gilliland – a former PVO player himself – hasn’t charted his yearly records, but estimates that his teams have won more than 85 percent of their games. If both the fifth- and sixth-grade squads played an average of 15 games per year, that would place Gilliland in excess of 600 career wins.
It’s not his record that he dwells on, but what his former players do in the future. PVO has had junior high teams qualify for state in basketball as has St. Joseph-Ogden High School, with a few former PVO athletes dotting the roster.
“It’s rewarding to think I had a little to do with it,” Dwayne Gilliland said.
When not coaching or playing, Dwayne Gilliland spends his time operating a 1,200-acre grain farm.
With the extra time while idled during the COVID pandemic, Gilliland still wasn’t far away from the sport that he loves.
“I watched college basketball on TV,” said Gilliland, who also had two knee replacements almost a year ago.
Dillman is glad that he has been able to spend time learning more about basketball from a person he considers a great mentor.
“I have learned a lot about being a coach from him,” Dillman said.
The fifth- and sixth-grade boys’ basketball season traditionally ends prior to Christmas Break, but the junior high season extends into January, with the postseason tournament scheduled to start late in the month.
From Dwayne Gilliland’s perspective, the timing is ideal.
“If Chase and Jamey bring up any sixth-graders (to the seventh-grade team), they can do that and work with them over Christmas Break,” Dwayne Gilliland said.
He is starting to see a new generation of players, too.
“Next year, I may have two or three that I coached their fathers,” Dwayne Gilliland said.
Gilliland, who graduated from SJ-O in 1983, hasn’t set a timetable on when he might retire, but when that time comes, he is sure about one thing.
“I will definitely stay involved,” he said.
His legacy will ultimately be defined by more than the successes on the court. His mantra will be equally long-lasting.
Each year, Gilliland has a conversation with his team about expectations. The subject is not how many points they might score or the number of rebounds they may grab.
It’s the ‘big picture’ kind of talk.
“Win with class and lose with class,” Dwayne Gilliland said. “I tell them they have to learn to deal with defeats because there will be a lot of defeats in life.”
And when Dwayne Gilliland is involved, many more wins.
