Retire or come back? Irmo’s Tim Whipple has decision to make after quick playoff exit

With 22 seconds left in the game, Tim Whipple grabbed his suit jacket from behind his chair, put it on and started walking toward center court.

The longtime Irmo High School boys basketball coach shook hands with Wilson coach Carlos Powell as the buzzer sounded, ending the worst season of Whipple’s 43-year coaching career.

Wilson, one of the top teams in the South Carolina, defeated Irmo, 53-42, Wednesday in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.

The Yellow Jackets, who made the playoffs with an at-large berth, finished the year with a 5-21 record. The season comes a year after Irmo defeated Lancaster to win the state championship.

The title was Whipple’s sixth of his career, and he’s led the Yellow Jackets to five other title games. He is one of two S.C. high school boys basketball coaches with more than 800 wins in his career.

Whipple has 848 victories, trailing only former Great Falls coach John Smith’s 943.

Whipple must now decide if he wants to add to that total and come back for another season.

He was one of the last people to leave Tiger gymnasium Wednesday, walking out with his daughter and football coach Aaron Brand, whose son AJ is a starting guard for the Yellow Jackets and one of the few returnees from last year’s championship team.

“I don’t know,” Whipple said about returning for his 44th season. “Every year for the last four or five years, we usually sit back about spring break time, have meetings with administrators and decide what the future holds. That will probably be the same scenario we do this year.

“It is not something that I have given a whole lot of thought at this point and time. We have tried to focus on making this team better and getting the most out of them. That is one of the ways I have measured my career as a coach. I feel like in my whole coaching career, the whole has been better than the parts. It is a goal I always have.”

Whipple felt he got as much as he could with this year’s group, but it just didn’t result in the winning the program is used to in his more than four decades at the school.

There wasn’t much experience returning with this year’s team with the graduation of Class 4A Player of Year Brandon Crawford and the transfers of Madden and Mason Collins to Christ School in North Carolina.

Irmo had just one senior on the roster, and Brand, Matthew Hopkins and Joey Albritton were the only ones who contributed from last year’s team. The lack of experience and proven scorers were evident at times as the Yellow Jackets averaged just 47.2 points a game this season.

But Whipple’s players’ effort didn’t stop, even against Wilson, one of the favorites to win the Class 4A championship. They continued to scrap and press, testing the Tigers in the second half but never could get it back in striking distance.

“They continued to work every day and do the best they possibly can,” Whipple said. “I was hoping the hard work would show in our play before the year was over and it never really did. I’m proud of them, and they did everything they could. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”

Whether Whipple returns or not next season, his place as one of the state’s best coaches already is secured. He has won a state championship in four different decades, and Irmo’s six titles rank in the top 15 in state history for the program.

More than 40 of Whipple’s players have gone on to play college basketball.

Powell, the former University of South Carolina standout, reflected on Whipple’s impact on the game and how prepared his team was even when the talent gap between the Tigers and Yellow Jackets was evident.

Powell was a player at Wilson more than 20 years ago and remembers Whipple from that era. So facing him as a coach was a different experience.

“It is kind of weird and yet pretty awesome,” Powell said. “For him to impact that many lives over time and still win. He changed so many kids’ lives.”

SCHSL Playoff Schedule, Scores

Wednesday

Class 5A Boys

Upper State

Mauldin 63, Spring Valley 55

River Bluff 71, Gaffney 68

Blythewood 95, JL Mann 48

White Knoll at Dorman

Lower State

Lexington 64, Cane Bay 38

Chapin at Cane Bay

Summerville 78, Dutch Fork 63

Class 4A Boys

Lower State

Wilson 53, Irmo 42

AC Flora 63, Colleton County 49

Ridge View 73, Easley 42

Westwood 65, Northwestern 52

Richland Northeast 58, Myrtle Beach 48

Class A Boys

Upper State

CA Johnson 91, Ware Shoals 68

Class 3A Girls

Lower State

Gilbert at Crestwood

Lower Richland 68, Lakewood 23

Camden 83, Swansea 19

Class 2A Girls

Upper State

Landrum 77, Newberry 21

Fairfield Central 54, Strom Thurmond 42

Batesburg-Leesville at Saluda

Keenan 83, Liberty 17

Eau Claire at Silver Bluff

Gray Collegiate 68, Chesnee 14

Mid-Carolina 61, Fox Creek 35

Friday

Class 3A Boys

Lower State

Philip Simmons at Lower Richland

Class 2A Boys

Upper State

Keenan at Newberry

Landrum at Fox Creek

Abbeville at Gray Collegiate

Class 5A Girls

Upper State

Spring Valley at Gaffney

Lower State

Summerville at Dutch Fork

Class 4A Girls

Lower State

Lucy Beckham at AC Flora

Hartsville at Ridge View

Class A Girls

Upper State

CA Johnson at Denmark-Olar

SCISA Boys Playoff Schedule

Class 4A

Saturday

Ben Lippen vs. First Baptist at Cathedral, 5:30 p.m.

Heathwood Hall vs. Laurence Manning at Sumter Civic Center, 1:30 p.m.

Monday

Cardinal Newman vs. Trinity Collegiate/Pinewood Prep winner

Hammond vs. Ben Lippen/First Baptist winner

Porter-Gaud vs. Heathwood Hall/Laurence Manning winner

Class 3A

Saturday

Carolina Academy vs. Northside Christian at Wilson Hall, 4:30 p.m.

Class A

Saturday

Holly Hill vs. Richard Winn at Wilson Hall, 2 p.m.

Jefferson Davis vs. Newberry Academy at Ben Lippen, 2:30 p.m.

SCISA Girls Playoff Schedule

Class 4A

Friday

Ben Lippen vs. First Baptist at Cathedral Academy, 6:30 p.m.

Wilson Hall vs. Cardinal Newman at Sumter Civic Center, 8 p.m.

Monday

Heathwood Hall vs. Laurence Manning/Porter-Gaud winner

Trinity Collegiate vs. Ben Lippen/First Baptist winner

Northwood Academy vs. Wilson Hall/Cardinal Newman winner

Hammond vs. Augusta Christian/Pinewood Prep winner

Class 3A

Friday

Northside Christian vs. Christian Academy at Wilson Hall, 5:30 p.m.

Class A

Friday

Richard Winn vs. Curtis Baptist at Ben Lippen, 5 p.m.