Like father like son: Bob and Robb Berger enjoy Mishawaka Marian's tourney run together

MISHAWAKA — Bob Berger has experienced his fair share of Hoosier Hysteria highs as both a player and a coach.

It's safe to say that the high he's on right now with the latest edition of March Madness Indiana prep style is at the top of his impressive list.

Berger has watched his son Robb guide his Mishawaka Marian boys basketball team to the State Finals for the first time. The No. 2 Knights (24-3) meet unranked and fellow first-time State finalist foe Beech Grove (21-6) Saturday at for the Class 3A state championship at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 6 p.m.

► Scouting report: What to know about Beech Grove, Marian's 3A title game opponent

► Player profiles: Meet Marian High School IHSAA state-final bound boys basketball team

The elder Berger, who spent 20 years as the Riley boys coach, has taken the tournament run in with a tremendous sense of pride.

"I'm just so proud of what Robb has done with the Marian program," he said. "It's amazing how far they have come.

"It's just so exciting. For him and his players to get to really experience Hoosier Hysteria like this is a special thing. It's an opportunity that not everyone gets to have."

Bob Berger, who was captain of his 1963 Nappanee High School team that beat Elkhart High School to snap its 26-game sectional winning streak, has had the best seat in the house for the Knights' march through the tournament. He now serves as color analyst for Marian games for Redeemer Radio, teaming with Angelo Di Carlo on the call of Robb's games.

Berger related how he felt last Saturday evening as he watched from his seat in venerable North Side Gym in Elkhart, where he played postseason games in high school, as the Knights beat No. 8 Leo 74-63 to win the North Semistate title and earn a berth in the season finale.

"It was like the clock could not move fast enough in that game," Bob said. "But Marian met every challenge in that game. I was very nervous throughout it and then with like two minutes left I was like they got this."

► Semistate championship: Marian advances to 3A Indiana boys state title game for first time in program history

Robb Berger has worked wonders with the Marian program in his second stint as its head coach. He is 264-87 overall in his 15th season at Marian, which includes a 223-64 mark in the past 12 seasons after coming back in 2010. He has guided the Knights to four of the five sectional titles in program history, claiming championships in 2012, 2016, 2020 and this season. The Marian program had eight straight losing seasons prior to Berger returning in 2010.

The Knights have made quite the impression on Bob Berger, who won 241 games in his 20 seasons at Riley with five sectional titles. Marian is 24-3 with losses to Class 4A teams Cathedral (85-61) and Westfield (53-39) and a Northern Indiana Conference loss to John Glenn (49-45). Cathedral is playing for the Class 4A state title Saturday night.

The Knights, who shared the NIC title with Penn and Glenn at 10-1, avenged the regular-season loss to the Falcons by downing Glenn 46-43 in the title game of the Washington Sectional.

"I've been so impressed with the fact that this Marian team always has someone rising to the top to lead them," Bob said. "And it's not always just with scoring. There are so many facets to this team and you can't stop them all.

"Robb does a great job teaching the fundamentals of the game. He also takes each player and spends time working with them. He's also very good in all different types of situations that his team may be put in. He's always prepared."

Robb Berger got his start in coaching at the age of 19 as the eighth grade coach at Jackson Middle School in South Bend. The former Riley guard scored 953 career points as a smooth shooter before the 3-point shot was put into the prep game in Indiana.

"I'm just glad that he's able to be part of this," Robb said of his father. "It's good to have him around and to share this with him.

"I really had no plans to be a coach and go into education. That was not going to be my career. But they hired me at Jackson like a week before their season started.

"I've always enjoyed basketball and I just can't stop coaching. It's addictive. It also keeps me young."

Bob Berger says his son has benefitted from being around the game since his childhood and also from working under some great coaches in his career. Robb was the JV coach for Mark Johnson at South Bend LaSalle and also coached with Ron Hecklinski at Anderson.

Johnson retired from coaching in 2021 after winning 470 games in stops at Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, LaSalle, Riley and Saint Joseph. Johnson's final team a year ago at Saint Joseph's lost to Leo in the semistate. Hecklinski, a former player at Saint Joseph's, stepped down following this season, his fifth at Mishawaka. He won 434 games in 30 seasons.

"Robb was always around the game as a little kid at Riley and then he got in with a lot of good people early in his coaching career," Bob said. "He got the coaching bug and it kind of just snowballed from there. I've just tried to let him be his own man as a coach."

Robb, who has also been the head coach at Wawasee and Mishawaka high schools, helped lead his Dad's Riley team in 1987 to an 18-5 mark and a sectional title his senior year.

"My Dad was tough as a coach, but the thing was that he let us play," said Robb, who is a teacher at South Bend Washington. "What I took from him was to not micro-manage players. I've changed over the years as a coach in letting my guys play more now than I used to.

"The reason we have had so much success here at Marian is because of the players we have had. I wish I could say it was because of me, but that's not the case. It started with that first group I had with Demetrius Jackson and has just carried over. Those guys set the tone."

Robb also knows that he owes much to his mentors in the game.

"I know that I would not be here without a lot of people, including three great coaches in my Dad, Mark Johnson and Ron Hecklinski.," said Robb who has a son Robbie and a daughter Cassee, who is a manager for the Knights.

"Those guys really fueled my fire. I feel like I'm carrying on for those guys, who I have so much respect for and who never got this opportunity that we have. This is rare. Not a lot of coaches get this opportunity."

Bob Berger and his wife Maria have two other sons in Todd and Jim and daughter Erin. Todd played basketball for Bob at Riley and Jim was the Riley football coach on two different occasions and is now an assistant football coach at Washington. Erin coaches volleyball at St. Jude Catholic School in South Bend and her husband Todd is the Washington football coach.

Bob Berger, who is in the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame, had his best tournament run as a coach back in 1990. His Riley team went 22-5 and won sectional and regional titles before losing to Northfield 81-72 in the Fort Wayne Semistate.

That Wildcat squad included stars like Jeermal Sylvester, Eric Ford and Andre Owens. The Northfield team was led by twins Joe and Jon Ross, who would go on to play at Notre Dame.

Bob Berger will be courtside Saturday night to help broadcast the biggest game of his son's coaching career.

"This does mean a lot to our family," Bob said. "It's so exciting. I've been dreaming about it and it would just be so great if they are able to win State."

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Hoosier Hysteria: Bob Berger there for son Robb Berger and Marian