Basketball: Bureau Valley salutes Brad Bickett

MANLIUS – Brad Bickett put Bureau Valley Storm basketball on the map as the Storm’s first coach with a run of three unprecedented Class A third-place state finishes from 2000-02.

Bickett coached at Bureau Valley from 1995 to 2010, winning seven straight regionals (1996-03), nine overall, eight conference championships, three sectionals and three supersectionals, posting a 15-year mark of 287-150 (.657).

All told, he won 14 regionals over a 28-year career with a 491-303 record, beginning at Western High School (1990-95) and finishing at Rock Falls (2012-20).

Most importantly, he instilled a work ethic and passion that inspired his players to become better men.

With Bickett set to retire at the end of the school year as athletic director/dean of students, Bureau Valley and the BV boosters held a special day for their former coach with a Brad Bickett Appreciation Night as part of Saturday’s game against Lanark Eastland.

The BV students joined in on the fun with “dressing as Mr. Bickett Day,” including junior Taylor Neuhalfen, who sported Bickett’s letter jacket from Ohio High School. BV coach Bret Helms may have topped them all dressing like Bickett on his summer job with the Bickett-Donner-Helms detasseling crew.

Bickett, an all-state player for the 1986 state-runner-up Ohio Bulldogs and named as an IHSA March Madness Legend, was humbled by the special night.

“It means a lot. I appreciate how the kids poured their heart and soul out and got this win. That was the most important to me,” he said. “Our guys have suffered a couple tough losses this week, and I wanted to see them bounce back. You know, I’m an old coach. I was proud of the way they responded, and our coaching staff, the way they got the kids ready to go and battled for 32 minutes against a really good Eastland team.

“I”m super proud of this community and school district. It starts at the top with Mr. (Justin) Yepsen as the board president and an outstanding board. And our administration, led by Mr. (Jason) Stabler. I’ve been here for the whole duration. I had opportunities to go other places. I don’t count that stint necessarily coaching at Rock Falls (as leaving). I was still here. I was still a part of that staff here. It means a lot to me to know that I started here and ended here.”

Bickett joked that he has to call Yepsen, his old basketball captain turned school board president, as Mr. Yepsen, “because he’s my boss.”

Yepsen was just one of several former players in attendance Saturday to pay their respects to their old coach. It is pleasing to Bickett to see them all doing well as adults.

“It’s nice to see someone giving back to the community. It’s a pretty thankless job to be a school board member and be a president like himself,” Bickett said. “It’s gratifying for me to go into a meeting and see him there knowing that I coached that guy. The time and effort he put into it for me and how hard I coached him, maybe has led to some of his success. He’s an unbelievable father and husband and obviously a great school board president.”

Another former player in attendance was Adam Gutshall, then a center piece of Bickett’s state teams, and now a member of the Princeton Police Department. Most importantly, Gutshall said Bickett taught them how to play as a team and put the team ahead of everything.

“Coach Bickett, he was the centerpiece of Bureau Valley history starting from the beginning. How he got you to believe in your school, the community, your teammates, your friends. You played for them. That’s what you were doing. You were playing for each other on the court. It was bigger than you, and that’s how we played. We played with passion. That’s the word he always used.

“We would have played against anybody. He gave us all the confidence in the world. He was just an unbelievable coach. He gave us memories we still talk about. I’ve been out for 20-plus year and we still talked about plays like they were yesterday. I’m just grateful, and it was a privilege to play underneath him. It was a great night tonight, recognizing such a great guy instrumental to the community and such an awesome guy and coach.”

Bickett no doubt was demanding on his players, but Gutshall said they wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“It developed us all. I think we would all say that,” Gutshall said. “It’s molded us to who we are today. Just what hard work does and consistently good things will happen when you do that. Don’t make excuses for anything. Being humble and understanding you’re just a small little piece of things and you just try to contribute in any way that you can.”

Bickett need look no further than the Storm bench to see one of his products, Jason Marquis, who has served as Storm head coach since 2012 and follows his coach’s ways down to his trademark foot stomp to get his players’ attention.

Marquis (BVHS ‘04) said Bickett taught him more than he even realized when he was playing for him.

“Kids hear me say it all the time, but Coach used to say basketball is a lot like life. When I was in high school, I thought, ‘Well you’re a coach, of course you think that.’ When I got to college, I realized he was right,” he said. “You get down to school and you’ve got a difficult situation, ‘Well, find a way.’

“I think once you realize you’re helping prepare kids for something beyond basketball, it becomes very enjoyable both to have an impact, but also hang out with some tremendous young men.”

The Storm Cellar will always a hold special place for the old coach.

“We’ve had some unbelievable games here. It’s a neat place. I love it in here. It’s just an awesome gym,” Bickett said. “The way Bureau Valley support all their athletics is top notch. But basketball in particular, just because of my involvement in it, means a lot. For us to have a great crowd and win today on this special day for me and my family, it’s pretty cool.

Bickett, who has been inducted into the Bureau County, Illinois Valley (Shaw Local), IBCA and Eureka College Hall of Fames, said he doesn’t have too many plans for next year at this time.

“I’ll be around,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll be coaching. I guess time will tell.”