Corridor coaches keeping up with former players at UNI

CEDAR FALLS — There's a fraternity within the Northern Iowa men's basketball team that stems from years in the MVC. Not the Missouri Valley Conference, but the Mississippi Valley Conference.

Wes Washpun (Cedar Rapids Washington), Matt Bohannon (Linn-Mar), Jeremy Morgan (Iowa City West), Wyatt Lohaus (Iowa City West), Luke McDonnell (Dubuque Senior) and Lincoln Conrey (Waterloo West) make it just shy of half the Panthers' roster that played their high school ball in the same conference.

And while the players have gone from making noise at the high school state tournament to making it at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, many of their former coaches are still back home, either coaching (in Bohannon and Lohaus' case, coaching their younger brothers) or teaching — and always watching.

'It's easy to keep up, and I keep up with every game. Any time we can watch, we do, otherwise we DVR them,' said former Cedar Rapids Washington Coach and current social studies teacher Brad Metzger. 'You're sitting there, my kids are watching, I'm standing up of course because I can't sit; they have 15 seconds left, and I think I hit the ceiling (when he hit the shot). I'm not surprised. (Washpun is) a competitor and finds a way to win.'

Metzger, Linn-Mar Coach Chris Robertson and Iowa City West Coach Steve Bergman don't miss watching their former stars when they can help it, and keep in touch when they can.

Robertson, Bergman and Metzger are just three among a group of high school coaches who can watch college basketball in general and see guys they helped shape dominate in March — and in a couple cases, playing in the NBA and NFL. It was six years ago that Bohannon, Washpun, Marcus Paige, Josh Oglesby, Harrison Barnes, Doug McDermott, Jarrod Uthoff, Adam Woodbury and David Johnson were at Wells Fargo Arena in Class 4A alone.

With Morgan and Lohaus coming along after that to Des Moines, Robertson, Bergman and Metzger had a hand in teaching several high-quality basketball players.

Looking back now, all three kind of chuckle when thinking about what the group did then and went on to do.

'It's really cool to see all those guys from our conference have great success,' Robertson said. 'Coaching against Washpun and Lohaus and Morgan — they were great players and good people, too. It's great to see them come together. Coach (Ben) Jacobson and that staff do such a great job of bringing in all those kids and getting them on the same page. As a coach, it's really satisfying to watch. There are rivalries among their schools, but you could always see the respect on the floor. I don't think it's a big surprise to see them come together.'

Time has a way of separating people, and it would be justified for a high school coach and his former players to lose touch — especially given how busy both parties can be this time of year.

But to a man, Robertson, Bergman and Metzger each said they reach out to and hear from Bohannon, Morgan, Lohaus and Washpun pretty regularly. It's especially true when things happen like last Sunday, when the Panthers won the MVC Conference Tournament on Washpun's buzzer-beater. Of course, text messages were sent right away, but replies came nearly as quick.

It may seem silly to remark at a text message, but for these former coaches watching with such pride, it means a lot to hear from their guys when there has to be dozens — if not hundreds — of other messages to sift through.

'It's neat to be able to follow him and stay close to him throughout the years,' Roberston said of Bohannon. 'Right when (Washpun's shot) went through, I grabbed my phone and texted Matt right away to congratulate him. It was probably within an hour that he texted back. He's always appreciative of what other people have done for him, and he said so. We texted back and forth that day, and I'm sure we will when he finds out where they're going and who they're playing (for the NCAA Tournament).'

In some cases, the coaches get to see their former players fairly regularly. Robertson and Bergman especially, given Jordan Bohannon and Tanner Lohaus (of his own buzzer-beater fame) are at Linn-Mar and West, get to see the current UNI stars.

Bergman even takes Morgan and Lohaus out on the boat when he can. It goes to the bond they all formed in the formative years, and the appreciation everyone has for each other. While Bergman was preparing for West's eventual semifinal winner, he heard from Morgan. And on Sunday, while West was supposed to be practicing, Bergman pushed it back so he – and his team – could watch the Panthers.

Little moments like that go a long way.

'You know, it's nerveracking watching those games when your own kids are out there. They're both great kids. I take them fishing sometimes because they like fishing. At least I enjoy fishing. You'd have to ask them if they're doing it to placate me,' Bergman said. 'Washpun's shot kind of reminded of Tanner's shot (Friday), bouncing around and everything. It was awesome. We actually moved practice back for a couple of hours, so we could watch it. We were supposed to practice at 1, and then they beat Wichita, and it was like 'Whoops, we're not practicing at 1.' We moved it back to 3. I'm proud of those guys.'

More than anything — more than the Arch Madness titles, Sports Illustrated covers and No. 1 upsets — the high school coaches take the most pride in the people their players have become.

It makes watching their on-court success that much more gratifying, and makes them easy to root for.

'It's a great blessing to be able to be a part of someone's life who does great things like that,' Metzger said. 'It's one of those things when you look back, you don't necessarily know in high school what they're going to do or how great they're going to turn out, and when you see these things and see how well they're doing, you're just thankful to have been any part of that. His parents and he deserve a lot of credit. It's a long journey to go through college and to get to the NCAA Tournament twice.'

Gazette staff writer Jeff Johnson contributed to this story

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