Topeka High boys basketball is in rebuild mode: 'It's not a sprint, it's a marathon'

After a 3-17 season last year, the Topeka High boys basketball team was looking for a new head coach.

Ty Baumgardner had taken the athletic director job in 2019 to get closer to home and was named the head coach last spring.

The program is in a rebuilding phase on and off the court, with Baumgardner looking to turn it around.

In 19 years coaching high school hoops in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, Baumgardner had a 70.6% win rate (370-154) with a state title in 2013.

Baumgardner knows what success looks like, but so does the boys program with its latest state tournament appearance coming in 2018 where they finished third.

All told the boys program has 10 state championship game appearances, 22 final four appearances, 55 elite eight appearances, 64 state tournament wins, 20 conference championships and three state titles (1932, 1973, 1986).

Changing the culture

"Culture" is a buzzword thrown around a lot in the sports world, but it's different for each program.

For Topeka High, that means understanding the importance of hard work on and off the court, being on time, being held accountable, dressing properly, speaking respectfully, being polite and communicating well.

"When you think of all those things, they're life skills," said Baumgardner. "We're trying to tell them and teach them these things within the basketball program to not only change this culture but to help them when they move on."

The first thing Baumgardner did after being named coach was to meet with each player from last year to let them know how things would be changing.

He didn't say exactly what the changes would be, and it didn't seem to affect the turnout.

There were 60 players in the gym for tryouts and Baumgardner was told that's the most that came out in years.

After tryouts and cuts, standards were more clearly defined.

"To their credit, they've done a pretty good job with everything," said Baumgardner. "My experience over the years is, deep down, every kid wants discipline. They want somebody holding their feet to the fire and holding them accountable."

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Senior Max Ambrose has been a part of the program for four years and said he felt the changes were good, although he had to adapt quickly to get used to the new coaches and expectations.

"We need to understand coach knows what's good for us instead of thinking we know what's good for us," said Ambrose. "Coach has the experience and knows what it takes to win.

Dressing up on game days and turning in phones before the school day may seem over the top for a program that's trying to re-establish a winning culture, but it's important to Baumgardner.

"Especially in that first year because that first year is when you come in and you put the hammer down," said Baumgardner. "This is what's going to happen now and that's it."

Junior Elijah Kincade has been in the program for three years and sees the differences.

"The past couple of years, the coaching staff wasn’t all there," said Kincade. "Now, our coaches will try to discipline us and make us better not only on the court but off the court as well."

Baumgardner added he knew the changes would take time because it's a 180 from how things have gone on recently.

"He's very transparent with the parents," said JV head coach and varsity assistant Nate Wallace. "He talks to the parents about anything except playing time. I love that. It eliminates that and I can go coach."

Beyond the court, Baumgardner has taken the team to the Brown v. Board of Education Museum and had a Topeka Rambler, Jack Alexander, speak to the team.

"I think that's our job as coaches to also teach these kids educational experiences and teach them history and life lessons," said Baumgardner. "Going to the Brown vs Board of Education because of the diversity of this school, and the diversity of our team, was a huge thing and I think an eye-opener for some of them."

On the court, it's a matter of understanding that success doesn't happen overnight.

"I don't think people understand one, how hard it is to win a state championship, period," said Baumgardner. "Two, how hard it is to sustain success. If you don't have a strong culture in place, it's going to be difficult."

Baumgardner added that despite some of the success they've had in the recent past the culture still wasn't where it needed to be.

He referenced a quote that went something like "you can have a losing culture but still be winning" that he thought applied to boys program.

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"I mean, heck, they got third in the state in 2018," said Baumgardner. "Two, three or four years ago before that, they went back to back to win league championships. You can have a bad culture and still win games and championships.

"Winning covers up a lot, talent covers up a lot. What we're trying to change and correct is the culture. The off the court behavior, the on the court behavior."

For guys like Kincade, who have been in the program and been a part of the ups and downs, it's about showing how they can change.

"We want to show we're not lackadaisical anymore," said Kincade. "The last 2-3 years we know we can play good on the court but there's a lot of 'I' players and they don’t play good as a group. We want to come together and play more as a team."

Assembling the staff

Coaching experience fills the staff and they all fit the mold of what Baumgardner is trying to do with this program.

"I was looking for guys that had the same vision as I did," said Baumgardner. "More importantly, the same definition of what a culture should be."

There's his father, Jerry Baumgardner, who coached at Atchison and Emporia and already has experience working with his son when he lived with him for two years when Baumgardner took his first high school head coaching job at Waddell High School in North Carolina.

"It's amazing how things come back to you," said Jerry on being back on the bench this year. "I try to bring my knowledge of basketball, some of the basic fundamental cardinal rules. I enjoy it. I enjoy practices, I enjoy teaching the kids."

George Ross Jr., whose father won a state championship playing for Jerry at Atchison, and Wallace, a 2003 Topeka High alum, round out the staff.

Ross Jr. had coached at Atchison High School, Benton High School and Benedictine College but had been out of coaching for a while.

"Ty was honest from the beginning," said Ross Jr., the head coach of the undefeated freshman team. "It wasn’t a very tough sell. I think Ty is doing a super job with the culture and changing the mindset of student-athletes here. It's not just about basketball. The thing that pulled me in was it's bigger than basketball."

Wallace had been on Highland Park's staff for the past four years but couldn't turn down the chance to come home with Baumgardner convincing him they could turn things around.

"He had some fire behind him," said Wallace. "I saw a person that actually cared about changing the culture here. To get an opportunity to come back and see it from a different perspective instead of being a player and now being a coach, I knew that I wanted to be a part of rebuilding the program."

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Wallace, the JV coach and a varsity assistant, credited Baumgardner for being transparent and upfront about the process coming in.

"I've learned a lot," said Wallace. "I took a lot of what he's doing and been able to really enhance my own growth as a coach. Based on a lot of things that have nothing to do with Xs and Os. I take a lot from what he's doing and do it with my own flavor with the youth teams I coach."

Baumgardner had that familiarity with his dad and saw kindred spirits with Wallace and Ross Jr.

"We're all on the same page and we're all old school, disciplined," said Baumgardner. "This is how it's going to be done and that's it. How we do things here with this program is not for everybody."

Patience and trusting the process

Changing the culture for the boys program won't be an overnight deal.

The team starts four sophomores. Of their five seniors, none played varsity last year and four haven't played since their freshman year.

Add in a new coaching staff with different philosophies and terminology, Baumgardner said this season was like starting from scratch.

"We live in a society that wants immediate satisfaction and gratification," said Baumgardner. "Are we trying to win every dang game we play this year? Absolutely. How many are we going to win? I don't know."

He added that he knows they'll be better next year. And in two to three years?

"We're going to be a real handful," said Baumgardner.

After losses to Manhattan, Junction City, Shawnee Heights and Topeka West to start the season, they beat Emporia on Dec. 14 and played an experienced Highland Park team close before falling heading into winter break.

"That win was huge for our psyche," said Baumgardner. "With the young and inexperienced team, it gave them a little bit of a taste of what it's like. Anytime you can win on the road in the league is a good win."

With a 1-6 record heading into Friday, they've continued to show progress, losing a close game to Washburn Rural (56-51) on Tuesday.

The message from the staff to the players is to stay the course.

"Nobody is more competitive than me," said Baumgardner. "I sure as heck don't like to lose, but sometimes that's part of the process. Stay the course, keep fighting and keep trying to get better every day. The wins will come."

George Patton, the U.S. Third Army Commander in World War II, said, "Pressure makes diamonds."

"If we get through the growing pains and come out polished," said Wallace, "we're gonna be a nice diamond."

Returning from the winter break, Baumgardner said the staff reiterated to the team the need to stay true in what they're doing.

"If anything, tighten the screws even more," said Baumgardner. "We're not changing how we're doing things and the expectations and the demands that we want. Stay the course."

Contact Seth Kinker at skinker@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka High boys basketball is rebuilding on and off the court