Bluejays, KCAC won't be the same without Brubacher
Bluejay assistant Ratzlaff named successor
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Up until a historic run in the 2006 high school football playoffs, Hillsboro's successes in athletics have mainly come on the basketball court.
The high school has fielded state championship teams in track, and had some good runs in baseball, but the most noise has been made on the hardwood.
Some of the biggest reasons for Hillsboro becoming a town that bleeds basketball have been Trojan boys' coach Darrell Knoll, former Lady Trojan coach Becky Carlson, and last, but not, least, Bluejay men's coach Don Brubacher.
Lady Bluejay coach Rusty Allen, and Lady Trojan coach Dale Honeck are keeping the town's reputation up, but you can't mention Hillsboro's basketball success without mentioning Brubacher in the same sentence.
In 25 years, Brubacher became one of the NAIA's most respected coaches, and a permanent fixture in the KCAC.
Speculations began growing last year that the 2006-07 season would be Brubacher's final run after a legendary tenure at Tabor.
The seasons had taken their toll on Brubacher's health, recruiting had become more of a chore, and his last son Andy was entering his final season.
The conclusion finally became evident Wednesday when Brubacher announced his resignation. He currently was the KCAC's longest-tenured coach.
Brubacher will remain the Bluejay athletic director and the associate professor for physical education.
His resignation has to jolt Tabor harder than what it felt with the departures of former football coaching legends Tim McCarty and Mike Gardner.
Back in the "dark ages" before the Bluejays' football program had achieved success, the basketball program was making the headlines for Tabor athletics.
All Brubacher did was win 11 KCAC titles, 385 games, and make the NAIA's National Tournament 20 out of 25 years.
Brubacher had better seasons than 2006-07 with the Bluejays finishing .500 in the league in a fourth-place 9-9 and 12-18 overall.
Tabor's record might not have been the best, but opposing coaches were always leery facing a Brubacher team, and few influenced the KCAC quite like he did.
The Bluejays ended the year with a 78-53 loss to the top-10 and KCAC champion Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes in the semifinals of the league tournament, but Tabor again made a good push into the post-season.
As normal, Tabor faced a brutal non-conference schedule that included several opponents from both the NCAA Division II and NAIA Division I.
From the numerous years of being acquainted with Brubacher, it was always an honor to hear his philosophy on the game. His post-game interviews were the best, though.
Even with a win, Brubacher was still finding faults, his intensity level was generally near the boiling point, and it was never hard not to agree with him; he knew what it took to play great basketball.
That rubbed off on his three sons, Scott, Grant, and Andy, who all gained state recognition in high school as well as All-American status for the NAIA.
If there's a coach suited for possibly filling Brubacher's giant shoes, it's his pupil Micah Ratzlaff.
The 26-year-old Ratzlaff, who becomes the youngest coach in the KCAC, is no stranger to good basketball in Hillsboro.
His family, along with the Brubachers and the Weinbrenners, have had a huge impact in the success of Hillsboro High School boys' basketball.
As a senior, Ratzlaff led the Trojans to their final 3A boys' state title, also playing key roles in second and third place finishing teams in 1997, and 1996, respectively.
Ratzlaff was chosen as a first-team All-State All-Class selection by all the state's newspapers as a senior, drawing interest from legendary Big 12 coaches Eddie Sutton, Norm Stewart, and Roy Williams during his tenure at Kansas.
Ratzlaff then became one of the only five former Bluejays to earn All-American honors, not just once, but twice, before graduating from Tabor in 2003.
Ratzlaff already has gained notice as a recruiter, bringing the 2007 KCAC Newcomer of the Year Greg Munroe with him after Ratzlaff's two-year stint as an assistant at Union College of Kentucky.
The Bluejay basketball program should flourish under Ratzlaff, but not seeing Brubacher roaming the sidelines will be bizarre.
His absence will be missed not just by Tabor, and the KCAC, but the game itself.
