Passion for Coaching Still Burns Bright for COD's Klaas

The distance between Don Klaas' office and the north basket on the court that's named after him at College of DuPage—Klaas Court—is no more than the length of a cross-court pass—and maybe an inside feed to a forward posting up.

Photos of many of the teams and all-Americans he's coached—12 altogether—line the walls inside his office. Sitting on a cabinet are three basketballs, stacked one on top of the other. Two are encased in glass.

The ball on the bottom is one from his 500^th career victory, which took place on Feb. 5, 2000. The ball on top, which is not encased in glass, is from his 800^th career win—a milestone he reached a few days before Thanksgiving.

The ball in the middle? It's a circa 1920s or '30s basketball, made out of leather, which a friend gave to Klaas.

Klaas' players jokingly ask him if that's the ball he used when he played. Well, for the record, no.

But disco, platform shoes, feathered hair and a new TV series, Dallas were the rage in 1978-79—Klaas' first season as the Chaparrals' head coach.

Fast-forward 33 years, and Klaas has won more games than any other men's basketball coach in Illinois junior college history. He ranks third in career victories among all active National Junior College Athletic Association's (NJCAA) coaches, regardless of division, and is eighth all-time overall.

A victory over Robert Morris University's junior varsity squad Dec. 16 gives Klaas a 805-422 career record, which includes all of Klaas' games as COD's coach, and as coach at Penn State McKeesport and the University of Wisconsin-Richland—both two-year schools.

Needless to say, it's been, and continues to be, quite a run for Klaas, who says he's not planning on calling it quits anytime soon.

"I have to say that as long as that energy is there (I'll keep coaching)," said Klaas, now in his 41^st year overall coaching junior college basketball. "I'm planning on obviously the rest of this year, and right now I'm starting to recruit for next year, so I'm not thinking soon. I want to keep doing this.'

"I really, honest to goodness, feel that the energy is there as if I was 30 years old. It has not diminished at all. I get asked occasionally, 'Well, when do you think you'll give it up?' When I don't have the energy to give to the players, to teach them, then that's when I would. But right now, I have as much energy as I've ever had. The scouting, the recruiting, the games, all of it, it's all (still) there."

Klaas took over as coach under unique, yet tragic, circumstances. The job became available after then coach Dick Walters left to become head coach at the University of Evansville, which had lost all of its players and coaches in a December, 1977 plane crash.

"That's what created the opening," Klaas said. "But I was looking forward to the challenge. I was 30 years old and I was ready to make a move."

So Klaas made the move from Wisconsin-Richland in the fall of 1978, and has been at COD ever since.

Staying put

A few years into his career, Klaas said he had opportunities to coach at a four-year school—something he wanted to do. In fact, Klaas entertained an offer to coach at a school in Kansas after he had completed his first year with the Chaps. But he turned it down.

"I wasn't ready to leave," he said. "There was too much excitement here. I've had some offers, but it just turned out so great for me to stay here and be on the two-year level. I sure didn't plan on a career in junior college, but I don't think I'd be coaching (now) if I had gone somewhere else. I get to coach, I get to teach. I have the desire and the passion to do it, so I feel blessed."

COD athletic director Paul Zakowski is glad Klaas decided to stay put. Zakowski, who previously worked with longtime NCAA Division I coach Eldon Miller at Northern Iowa and current Loyola coach Jim Whitesell when Whitesell was at Lewis University in Romeoville, says Klaas can be mentioned in the same breath with either coach because he's every bit as good.

"I've been able to work with Don the last five years, and I would put him in the same category with those people," Zakowski said. "I've been fortunate in my career in athletics to work with some great basketball coaches. I would do an injustice to Don if I tried to put into words what's he's done for this college.'

"Don has done so much for this college, not only on the basketball floor, but he developed the (aerobic) fitness lab that we have in this building (the Physical Education Center). He's meant so much to this college, and not only that, he's a guy every day that when you come to work, you just like seeing him.

"He's a great person to have around here, and he wins a few games around here, too. It goes without saying he's doing an outstanding job."

A winning formula

The 2010-11 Chaparrals are 10-4 at the holiday break, which gives Klaas an overall record at COD of 711-333. His squads have averaged over 22 victories each season.

Inducted into both the NJCAA Basketball and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association halls of fame, Klaas led the Chaps to the 2002 NJCAA Division III national championship. His teams have appeared in the NJCAA tourney seven times, and advanced to the championship game on two other occasions (1999 and 2003).

The game, in Klaas' eyes, has changed over the years; specifically, it's become more physical—a trickle-down effect, he says, from the NBA. "It's physical in college, in high school," he said. "It's even physical in the grade school (level)."

While he points out that student-athletes also have changed, Klaas makes specific demands on those who play for him, and he hasn't budged on those demands since he's been a coach: Work hard, have a great attitude and do it all to benefit the team.

"The kids have changed," he said, "but the kids I get in my program … when I talk to other coaches, it's 'Well, you have to do this and that.' I don't do any of that.'

"If you're going to be in my program, you have to love it. It's going to be really hard to play for me because I'm so demanding. But I'm going to make you a better player. So when you're on the court, I'm the coach, you're the player, and I'm going to do everything I can to push you and bring out your best. Off the court, I'll try to help you with whatever advice I can give you about basketball, your relationships, your classes or anything."

Klaas says he hasn't changed his coaching philosophies or strategies over the years, except in one area: defense. His teams play more zone simply because he doesn't want the Chaps to be one-dimensional when opponents prepare to play his team.

"In the early years, I played way more man-to-man," he said. "Probably my first 10 years of coaching was all man-to-man. It's what I knew, and that's what I taught. And I got (to) thinking, 'Everybody plays man. When someone plays us, they should have to prepare more.' So I started studying some other things. And for the last 20 years, I've used some zone. And, in fact, the last few years, I've used a 1-3-1 zone or a matchup."

Family matters

Klaas and his wife, Peggy, live about a mile from the COD campus. His wife is actively involved with the basketball program, and attends Chaparral home games. Klaas' younger son, Kasey, played for him in the mid-90s, and his daughter, Ali, was an all-American basketball and tennis player at COD from 1998 through 2000.

Kasey, who lives in Lincoln Park and has two children, is vice president at Channel Clarity, Inc., a online media company in Chicago. He was an all-Region IV player for the Chaps, and once hit six three-pointers in a regional final game vs. Joliet Junior College.

Ali resides in Wheaton and has three kids. She teaches aerobics part-time at COD and also teaches at the Wheaton Sports Center. Ali went on to play college basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and was part of UWM's team when it qualified for the NCAA tourney in 2001. In 2000, she helped lead the COD women's team to a national championship, and still holds the NJCAA record for most points in a championship game (34).

Klaas' oldest son, Ben, who has two children and lives in Boston, quarterbacked Wheaton Warrenville South's football team to its first state title in 1992.

"The 33 years has happened because DuPage has been a great place for me to teach and coach," he said. "I got to raise my family, and my kids were part of it. I've got to stay married for 41 years to my wife, and she's a great big part of this program. There's just so many things that have worked well."

Zatkowski said watching Klaas interact with his family and grandchildren before home games is what it's all about.

"Ali will bring her kids to the game, and Peggy will be here," Zakowski said. "The grandkids will wander over to Don at the bench as the team is warming up. You just see that love and interaction between Don, his grandchildren, his daughter and his wife. It's a family that cares about each other, and to me, sometimes in life we get carried away with athletics, winning and losing.'

"I get to see firsthand every game the way Don interacts with the people that are most important in his life. He's great guy and brings a lot of passion and heart to the game. You can tell it by the way he coaches. I know our student athletes over the years are the main benefactors of what he's done for them."