'I definitely want to beat him': Sanders, Kurtz close friendship put to test for 44th News Journal All-Star Classic
MANSFIELD — 3-0.
That will be the topic of conversation between the 44th News Journal All-Star Classic coaches all week long as Friday's primer high school all-star game event approaches. It is a feather in the cap of North coach John Kurtz from Crestview. It is also a thorn in the side of South coach Tyler Sanders of Crestline.
3-0.
It might be how Kurtz answers the daily phone calls between the two. "Hello, John Kurtz, 3-0 against Tyler Sanders, here."
And then, they would both share a belly laugh.
Kurtz and Sanders, this year's coaches for the 44th News Journal All-Star Classic being held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night at Lexington High School, have developed a special friendship over the last several years and it remains today as the two talk basketball on a daily basis.
And there is a mutual respect there that will never be duplicated.
"First and foremost, I would not only say that I am not the coach that I am but even the person that I am if it wasn't for Coach Kurtz," Sanders said. "He has played a big role in my life and gave me a chance to be a JV coach at a young age. I can honestly say I wouldn't be where I am today without him. We talk at least twice a day. You can probably hear our wives in the background yelling at us to hang up the phone. We talk before and after every game and on the way to practices. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have that relationship. It started as coaches but has evolved into friends and I cherish that."
Kurtz agrees.
"Tyler has done a great job at Crestline and I am proud of what he did there," Kurtz said. "It was an honor to have him work for us at Mansfield Christian and get him his start. We have a lot of phone conversations after games, which is very enjoyable. We also talk a lot of trash before we go at each other, but Tyler has done a great job as a head coach and I have always told the coaches that have worked for me that the true test of a good coach is how well your team does when you don't have a lot of talent. He had a very bright future in this profession."
Kurtz has a résumé that is hall-of-fame-caliber. He owns a 384-252 career record and could reach 400 victories next season. He began coaching in 1988 when he took over at his alma mater just four years after he graduated from Temple Christian. He coached there until 1992 when he decided to go back to coaching school and take an assistant coaching job under legendary Mansfield Christian coach Keith Clark for two years before returning to Temple Christain in 1994 with a new-found outlook on coaching. He was there until 2006 as he piled up 211 wins and posted a 22-0 season in 1997-98 with the Crusaders. He spent a year away from coaching and then took the job at Crestview in 2008 posting a 32-34 record in three seasons.
He then decided to take the head coaching job at Mansfield Christian where his son, Kyle, who is an assistant coach for Kurtz now, was entering seventh grade. Kurtz went 91-70 from 2011-2018 before stepping down. In 2020, he returned to Crestview to take over a program that had been stagnant since he left. In his first year back, he won 17 games which was one fewer than the previous three seasons combined and the most since winning 17 in 2010-11, the final year for Kurtz's first stint.
After going 12-10 a year ago, Kurtz piloted the Cougars to the greatest season in program history. The Cougars finished 21-3 setting the record for most wins in a season topping a previous mark set in 1966 when the Cougars won 19 games in back-to-back seasons. They broke the program record for the longest winning streak and the best start to a season going 14-0 at the beginning of the year. They won the first Firelands Conference championship in 23 years and won just the sixth sectional championship in program history. They nearly punched their ticket to the first district title game since 1964-65 after overcoming a slow start against Huron in the semifinals but ultimately fell in the end.
Sanders made sure he was there at the district tournament matchup to lend his support to his friend.
"He always made it known that the most important thing you could have in your program is kids who played hard from the beginning to the end," Sanders said. "That has always been something I carried with me and that has been the basis of how I run my teams. If they play hard from the opening tip to the final buzzer and want to be the hardest-playing team every time on the court, I cannot fault that."
Sanders recently announced his resignation from Crestline after five successful seasons in which he reset the program standards for years to come.
Despite his short stint, Sanders is already the fourth-winningest coach in Crestline history with 54 victories. He is just one of four coaches to win tournament games in four consecutive seasons. In just his second season, Sanders led the Bulldogs to a 13-11 record in 2019-20 making it the first winning record for the program in 23 years. He followed that up with two more winning seasons giving Crestline its first three-year stretch of winning boys basketball teams since 1939-42. His 45.2 win percentage is third-best in Crestline history and he led his team to a win over Wynford for the first time in 24 years during his time in the program.
Sanders gave a lot of credit to Kurtz and his high school coach, Mike Chitty, who he played for at Mansfield Christian before graduating in 2009.
"I was blessed to have a really good high school coach who was very good at developing relationships with his players," Sanders said. "I think you just try to pick up the top qualities of the coaches you surround yourself with and Coach Kurtz was just so good at Xs and Os and defense and getting his players to believe that if you do at least this, you will be at least this every year. If you do more, you will be more."
Now the two face off for the fourth time on the court and this time, they both have absolutely loaded rosters to toy around with. Kurtz has his two Crestview sarts in Heath Kash and Owen Barker along with 10 other all-star players.
"Undefeated," Kurtz said when asked what the head-to-head record was between him and Sanders. "I feel pretty confident I will keep that going. But having someone I am such close friends with on the other side adds so much fun to this game. We will talk a lot of trash between now and game time, but it is so much fun to coach against him and we had even more fun when he coached with us."
Sanders brings in a loaded roster that includes two of his own players in Crestline's Trevor Shade and Isaiah Perry. So, he hopes he has a roster strong enough to bring him home a W over his mentor.
"I don't know if there is necessarily pressure, but it sure would be nice to beat him and get the best of him at least once in my life," Sanders said with a smile. "It is so hard to beat him because we are so much alike and think very similarly so when we play, he knows exactly what is coming. Now, it will be different with two all-star rosters and players who can do different things. No pressure, but I definitely want to beat him."
jfurr@gannett.com
740-244-9934
Twitter: @JakeFurr11
If you go
What: 44th News Journal All-Star Classic
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 24
Where: Lexington High School
How to get tickets: Tickets are currently on sale at Catalyst Life Services locates at 270 Sterkel Boulevard in Mansfield. Cash, card and check will be accepted Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. and Friday 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Tickets will remain on sale there until the day of the game.
You can also purchase tickets during the all-star practices on March 21 and 22 from 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. and March 23 from 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m. Practices are open to the public and will be held at Lexington High School. This will be a cash or check-only option.
And finally, you can purchase your tickets at the door the night of the game. Tickets are $8 apiece.
Why: 100% of the proceeds from the 44th News Journal All-Star Classic will be donated to Catalyst Life Services and will benefit the Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Crisis Services department. Over the last 44 years, the News Journal had donated nearly one million dollars.
For any questions, please contact Mansfield News Journal Sports Reporter Jake Furr via email at jfurr@gannett.com or via text at 740-244-9934.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Tyler Sanders, John Kurtz will coach 44th News Journal All-Star Classic squads
