Heiss' Waubonsee coaching career about much more than just wins and losses

Waubonsee Community College men's basketball coach Dave Heiss labels himself a dinosaur.

He does that because in today's ever-changing fast-paced landscape he is indeed a throwback. Heiss is in his 32nd season as Waubonsee's coach. Plus, it's the only coaching job he's ever had.

While 32 years is an impressive statistic along with the more than 1,000 games he's coached and the 11 conference titles his teams have won (more than double the total of any other school in the conference), Heiss' greatest accomplishment doesn't have a number next to it.

For three-plus decades, Heiss, who goes for his 600th career win Thursday in Elgin against Elgin Community College, has been laser-focused on developing young men for life after basketball.

"What I do here is much bigger than basketball," said Heiss, a 1980 West Aurora graduate who played for legendary coach Gordie Kerkman and is a member of both the West Aurora Athletic Hall of Fame and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. "I develop men for the big game, which is life outside of basketball. I still enjoy the success we have, but I realized a long time ago there are much bigger things than the game. I've used basketball as a platform and a vehicle to incorporate the things I teach. A lot of the lessons I teach in basketball can be used in the real world. Forget about the games, I remember the people and the experience I've had with these guys."

Michael Thompson played for Heiss and Waubonsee during the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons. The 2000 team made the NJCAA nationals, while the 2001 team was upset in the regional tournament. Thompson played on two Chiefs teams that went 53-12 and was on the floor when Heiss, who in 2011 became the 51st coach in NJCAA history to win 500 games, won his 300th career game.

Thompson, a Michigan native who went on to play at the University of Idaho, remembers Heiss more than he does the mountain of success the team achieved.

"I was one of those special-case kids," he said. "I graduated high school in 1995 and was out of school for four years."

Thompson worked a variety of jobs in those four years, but still had a desire to play. He ended up contacting a good number of teams looking for that opportunity four years removed from high school.

"I probably visited 10 schools and they shied away from me because of my age," he said. "I asked coach Heiss for an opportunity and he gave it to me and I made the most of it. Coach Heiss is the second most influential man in my life outside of my father. He gave me an opportunity when I was 21 years old."

Thompson said it was no walk in the park playing for Heiss, but the lessons he learned have stuck with him to this day.

"It's tough sledding when you play for him," he said. "He's a hard-nosed and straightforward guy. But if it wasn't for him, I don't know where I'd be at today. He would give you the shirt off his back if he could."

Thompson now coaches the Georgia Orangemen Elite AAU program. "I've patterned myself after coach Heiss," he said. "I learned so much from coach Heiss. He gave you everything you needed and always was there for you."

Thompson's favorite memory occurred during one of his toughest basketball moments right after Waubonsee was upset by Moraine Valley in the region tournament.

"We were No. 1 in the region and had gone to nationals my freshman year (and finished 10th)," he recalled. "We were expected to go back. I remember crying in the locker room because I knew my career at Waubonsee was over and I had enjoyed it so much. Coach Heiss told me not to cry and told me there was plenty of basketball left for me as either a player or coach."

Turns out Heiss, also the men's golf coach at the school, was right on the money with Thompson, one of the legions of young men he's positively influenced over the years.

Another player who benefitted from Heiss' tutelage is East Aurora graduate Keith Cross, who played for one year at Waubonsee (1989-1990) and was part of Heiss' first 20-win team.

That year, however, did not go exactly according to plan.

"We had a very good team, but when grades came out at semester we lost some players," said Cross, now an Aurora police officer. "In the second half of the season we had to practice defense with chairs because we didn't have enough players. We set the chairs up for a 2-3 zone. In that situation we had to learn to come together. I became the de facto leader. When the whole team was still together I didn't care to take a front seat, but I wound up having to take the front seat. Coach Heiss helped me with the transition and he believed in me. His teachings helped me later in life to take on leadership roles."

Cross also recalled an incident in a game against Wright College that resulted in another Heiss life lesson.

"I had a pretty good first half," he said. "The second half they send in the last guy on the bench and he was doing some dirty things. I got frustrated and got into a fight and both of us got kicked out and we lost by one point. Coach Heiss put it on me. He told me to think about the situation. Their guy is the last one off the bench and I'm our leading scorer. Who loses the battle? You have to think before you react to things."

Looking ahead, Heiss, whose teams have gone to NJCAA nationals five times, is starting to see the light at the end of the career tunnel.

"I'm getting to the end of my road," said Heiss, who was hired at age 23 at Waubonsee after playing at Bemidji State in Minnesota. "I still have the competitive fire and still enjoy changing people's lives and developing young men, but I don't know how many years I have left. The battery is starting to run out."

But before it does, plenty more young men in the Waubonsee program will benefit in the long-term from Heiss' teachings.

Mike Miazga has been writing about sports in the Fox Valley for more than two decades. Email him at mjm890@gmail.com.