New, yet old

Last month, Park Hill South boys’ basketball announced Rick Zych as their new head coach bringing what the Panthers hope will be renewed and re-energized leadership to a program which has been at the edge of greatness several times over the years. With two Kansas state championships in five title game appearances as head coach of Bishop Miege the last 16 years, Zych has the resume and vision to put South on the map as a perennial contender in Missouri. In addition to his teams’ successes, he’s also coached some of the metro’s top players including Kansas starting guard Travis Releford. Zych is no stranger to the Park Hill School District though. He takes over the coaching duties from Athletic Director John Sedler, much like he did when Sedler hired him in 1992 as head coach at Park Hill.

“I've known John Sedler for many years and respect him,” Zych said. “I wanted to jump at the opportunity because it’s an excellent school district and they've got some good players. Mostly based on the respect I have for John, the school district, and Principal Dale Longenecker is what lured me in.”

Zych, whose daughter is graduating from Bishop Miege this year, thought it was a good time to move on to something different and wanted to look into getting back to a really good public school district. With a team returning several key players from a 17-9 season, Zych saw Park Hill South as an ideal place to build another winner, this time on the Missouri side of the state line.

“They're fine young men and have some great young players there. We're moving to a bigger league and the schedule might be different than it was last year. I think they gained some confidence last year which will help,” Zych said. “I think Missouri basketball is more physical. Kansas basketball is probably more athletic. Missouri has a lot more size than Kansas usually does.”

Bringing a fact paced style which uses a lot of players, Zych has a vision of the program he wants to build and he knows where it needs to start.

“From day one, you have to make it important not just to the players, but to the whole school. That will be our staff's job to go out there and sell the program. That starts with grade school coaches and so on. Your best spokespeople will be your players and that's why they need to be good kids and well-respected in the community,” Zych said. “Some of our best players are our most responsible and charismatic kids. People want to come watch those kind of kids play. We want playing at Park Hill South to be an adventure and an experience, not just for us, but for our opponents and make it difficult to play here.”

As far as building that kind of culture, Zych says it is going to take time, but it starts with the players. Each player will have a role to fill and it may not necessarily be that of scorer.

“We play a lot of guys and try to get the ball to our best players. I told the guys that shooting is not an equal opportunity situation. We need someone to be our best rebounder or our best defender. That is what goes into forming a true team and finding your roles,” Zych said.

With his record and impressive list of former players, which includes those who’ve won and been nominated for the DiRenna Award (Kansas City’s top basketball player) and gone on to play division one college basketball, Zych says he’s been lucky to have had such talent.

“When we talk about ‘this is the kind of player you can be’ and compare it to those players, I think kids react to that,” Zych said. “I brought my whole staff from Bishop Miege. We've had teams that have overachieved and underachieved. That's the fun of it. And we're looking forward to doing that again, this time at a different school.”

One thing that stands out to Zych which has held true over the years is the quality of play his teams have at the end of the season.

“I think our teams at Miege were known for one thing, playing real well at the end of the year. Sometimes parents and others don't understand that, but you have to realize the big prize comes at the end of the year,” Zych said. “14 of 16 years making it to the state tournament. When you get that reputation, you get kids to believe in it and word spreads pretty quickly. When you win it’s easier to ask for a commitment and it kind of snow balls from there.”

In the end, he looks back to the players who he says win the games, not him.

“It’s all about players,” Zych said. “You can have John Wooden there, but without them it makes it difficult.”