Pease sees reasons to leave coaching behind for now

It's a standard question I ask varsity coaches at the end of each season -- "Are you coming back next year?"

I've gotten some pretty interesting answers such as, "Why, did you hear something bad?" and "Do you know something I don't?"

When I asked Tim Pease that question about a month ago, he quipped back, "Are you coming back?"

We laughed about it and I assumed he was just being funny. Little did I know he was probably still pondering that question, and at the time, he still didn't know either.

Now that I look back, I should have known Pease, who has coached the Geneva boys basketball team for the past 15 seasons, knew something I didn't.

Late last week, Pease announced his resignation because he wants to spend more time with his family. His daughter Kelsey, a freshman, played on the sophomore team this past year.

Pease's assistant coach, Josh Rader, said Pease saw his only daughter play four times this year.

"It hurt him not to be able to see Kelsey play," Rader said.

Rader said he was surprised when Pease told him he was not coming back. The two talked after the team's banquet last Monday.

Rader asked Pease about off-season workouts and what the plan was, and that's when Pease dropped the news.

"I'm still shocked, but I'm happy for him and his family," Rader said. "He made the right decision. I was shocked, but it made sense."

The news came as a surprise, but then I remembered what Pease said when I asked him to sum up the season. Pease was unavailable for comment for this story.

Pease said, "This was one of my favorite seasons, and I have been doing this since 1985. This team showed me some things -- they reminded me this is fun."

Depending on the team's record or how far they got in the postseason, most coaches talk about that. "It was a good year," or, "We could have done better," or, "We fell a little short in reaching our goals," and, "This was a great season." That's what I am used to hearing. Rarely do the coaches tell me what Pease said.

Perhaps it was Pease's way of saying this year was it. For now …?

Rader doesn't rule out a coaching comeback for Pease in the future, perhaps when Kelsey is finished with high school.

"I think if it's the right opportunity for him," Rader said. "He'll stay close to the game. Obviously, he is very passionate about it."

Of course, a replacement for Pease is needed. The first person that comes to mind is Rader, Pease's former point guard (class of 1999) and assistant since the 2003-04 season.

I wrote a column back in February of 2005 on young coaches, and Rader, then 23, was in his second year with the Vikings as a varsity assistant.

I asked Rader, who graduated college in 2003 after playing basketball at Millikin, if he would like to be a head coach, and he said, "Absolutely. I'd love to coach around here someday."

Is that still true? Of course, Rader said.

"I would like nothing more than to be the head coach of the Geneva Vikings," Rader said. "I have a lot of respect for what Coach Pease has done for the Geneva basketball program and would love to build on that with my own philosophies and experiences."

Perhaps that will happen? Who knew Pease would resign so soon. This would be Rader's best chance to continue coaching at his alma mater at the highest level possible.

The first obstacle right off the bat for Rader is that he does not teach at the high school. A lot of the time, athletic directors and principals are looking for someone who coaches at the school.

Rader, who lives in Geneva, works at a marketing company in Batavia, but has a degree in education.

Still, anything is possible for Rader at this point.

"I'd love the opportunity," he said.

Even though Pease won't be on the sidelines, he'll still be at Geneva's basketball games -- just the girls games more often than the boys games.

"You will still see him around," Rader said.