New Bulls assistant made the jump from high school to the pros

One unexpected phone call can open so many doors.

Nearly 20 years ago, Bob Ociepka was in his fourth season as head coach at York High School in Elmhurst. The team got off to a good start, stumbled at its own holiday tournament, but had plenty left to play for as the new year approached.

That's when Ociepka's life, career and entire future took a surprising twist.

"The whole thing actually started on New Year's Eve," he said. "I was getting ready to go out to dinner or something and the phone rang. It was Dick Versace, and he said, 'Hey, do you want to come to the NBA?'"

At the time, Versace was an assistant with the Detroit Pistons and about to become head coach of the Indiana Pacers. After graduating from Quincy College, Ociepka's first coaching job was working on Versace's staff at Gordon Tech.

And yes, Versace was serious about bringing his former high school assistant with him to the Pacers.

"He said, 'If I get this, you're coming right now,'ˆ " Ociepka recalled. "I said, 'What about my high school job?' He said, 'Tell them you're going to the NBA.'ˆ "

That's how it began. Versace's tenure with the Pacers ended about two years later, but Ociepka stayed on to work with the replacement, Bob Hill. Then he kept getting hired.

Ociepka worked for the Los Angeles Clippers under Bob Weiss and Bill Fitch. He spent a season in Philadelphia with Johnny Davis; had turns in Detroit with both Alvin Gentry and Rick Carlisle; spent three years with Milwaukee working under two Terrys, Porter and Stotts; and assisted Randy Wittman in Cleveland and Minnesota.

It all adds up to 19 years as an NBA assistant for seven teams and with 10 different head coaches.

Ociepka's journey finally became a round trip when he joined the Bulls last week and returned to his hometown.

"I just heard a lot of great things (about him)," said Vinny Del Negro, the Bulls' first-time head coach. "Everyone I talked to had positive things to say, not only as a coach, but as a person. His loyalty, his X's and O's, his preparation, his organization is as good as there are."

This path wasn't easy. The unstable NBA world cost Ociepka his marriage. He had to fight to switch his role from advance scout to bench assistant. But he survived to build a long career in a profession he's passionate about.

None of this would have happened without that phone call on New Year's Eve 1988. Versace was never again a head coach in the NBA, so that offer to join the Pacers literally was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"You need your in, someone to help you get in," Ociepka said. "Dick Versace was my in. If I would have said no to him, he never would have asked again."

Of course, playing your senior year of high school basketball also happens just once. So leaving York at midseason wasn't easy.

"You're trying to build a team," Ociepka said. "You're all in it together and working together. Now I'm ready to jump ship and leave them.

"Actually, (former York athletic director) Jack Tosh was really influential saying, 'You've got to do this. These guys are going to graduate in a few months, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'"

Tosh is now retired, but he still lives in Elmhurst and stays in touch with Ociepka on occasion.

"I didn't encourage him (to leave), but I didn't discourage him," Tosh said. "It wasn't exactly a lateral move. It was a vertical move.

"There was a little bit of upheaval with the board about his contract. Leaving in the middle of the season is not ideal. But to take that kind of opportunity away from someone wouldn't be fair. I think all the kids understood."

The next step wasn't so easy. One day, Ociepka said goodbye to York. The next, he helped run practice with a Pacers team that included Reggie Miller, Chuck Person and Scott Skiles.

"I was in a fog. I was in a daze," he said. "Versace says, 'Hey, just jump in there and start coaching. They're players. Just coach them.' I think it was a day or two later, we played the Bulls at the (Chicago) Stadium.

"I was a fan sitting in the second balcony at Blackhawks games, Bulls games, and now I'm right there on the bench. What an experience to play in that building. I was just a little shellshocked."

Versace brought his friend into the NBA, but Ociepka did the rest himself. He did advance scouting for several years, then built a reputation for being a versatile coach who does well working with players and devising game plans.

Ociepka was under contract for one more year in Minnesota, but the Timberwolves let him go so he could return to Chicago, where he grew up on the city's West Side, near Pulaski and Division.

"You work hard, you stay loyal," Ociepka said when asked to explain his longevity in the league. "I've always tried to fit in and do what's needed."

A few years back, Tosh got a chance to ask Versace the same question.

"Versace told me, 'He's always going to have a job because he can take video and break it down beyond comprehension,'" Tosh said. "I've never heard anyone say a bad word about the man. He's a heck of a coach."