Turk enjoys first month as Cloverdale boys’ basketball head coach

CLOVERDALE – A month after being hired as the next boys’ basketball coach at Cloverdale High School, Karl Turk got the chance to formally hold a practice with his new charges.

It will be the first of many practices Turk and the Clovers will have together and while its still a few months before formal practices begin, the new coach said there hasn’t been a dull moment since his promotion.

“The last month has been a pleasant whirlwind,” Turk said. “I’ve been thoroughly appreciative of all the support from the Cloverdale community, faculty, players and parents.

“There’s a lot of work to do when you move a chair over, a lot of stuff behind the scenes, things I’ve known about for a long time. It’s definitely a taxing time at the start of the year, doing the teacher part, coaching and starting PhD studies at Indiana State University.”

Hired back on Aug. 8, Turk said one of the most important moments of the process was what happened right after it was announced he would be taking over for Patrick Rady, who stepped down after seven years coaching the Clovers.

“One pretty cool thing I’ll cherish without having played a game yet; the first person I told was Bill Henson,” Turk said. “There was an article in the Banner Graphic about he and his wife being superfans and him having taught in the district for a number of years.

“His wife (Donna) passed last year and after I was hired, I went to his house to let him know that. That’s a moment, no matter where I go, I’ll always remember.”

In the time before the first practice, Turk said those looking to answer the call to play for Cloverdale was far more than he had seen since arriving at the school, something that feeds into an ideal the new coach wants the players to believe in.

“It remains to be seen,” Turk said on how the players will view him in time. “We haven’t had a game nor a tryout or cuts, nor has there been any thing about where on the roster players want; that will always remain to be seen as there’s an evolution every day.

“The response in general has been overwhelming positive so far and I’m elated that’s the reaction as you never quite know. The chemistry is different now and I’m quite proud of the kids, rallying behind the mission and the vision that I have.

“To give an example, we have 26 boys who should play for Cloverdale High School this season,” Turk added. “We haven’t done the math but it’s close to double the number of kids we had out last year.

“We’ve put in some effort behind it as coaches but the kids have already adopted our vision of strength in numbers. We haven’t formally adopted it but that’s going to be our M.O.; I’m sure this is more kids than ever that have come out since I’ve been here, the same way that numbers have been for football.

“I love that the kids are rallying behind the mission and vision of a united Cloverdale front,” Turk said. “That’s what I’m about in coaching, teaching, announcing and anything else I’m involved with at the school and the kids have embraced it, too.”

Daniel Varnes will remain as an assistant coach but after that, Turk said there were still some things that needed to be ironed out throughout the program, adding Rady was helping where he could.

“We’re currently in the process of building our staff,” Turk said. “We don’t have middle school coaches yet but several people in the community have expressed an interest, so we don’t expect that to be an issue.

“Daniel is my varsity assistant and Branston Scott is the JV coach, a Clover alumni, the current cross country coach and a baseball assistant coach. What’s intriguing to me is that we’ve lost more than just coach Rady the past few years.

“Greg Thomas was a Division I player at Indiana State University and had a unique perspective while we’ve also lost Jason Wilson and others, so we’re shaping the staff with myself and Daniel be the two holdovers,” Turk added. We’ve heard from all the staff and they’ve been super supportive; even coach Rady and I are closer through this.

“He didn’t have the intention of having that level attention and he’s also trying not to step on toes, even if I don’t have toes to step on. He’s been helping to get numbers out; some may say it’s another coaches’ program and that might be a poor reflection but he’s so selfless about it, having all things Cloverdale basketball on his chalkboard, who to get in contact with and many other things and I am indebted to him for that.”

As to how he envisions the program, Turk said one of the biggest changes would be seeing every member of the team as someone to be relied upon, rather than relying upon one or two individuals to make everything go smoothly.

“The truth is, every year is a change,” Turk said. “To build a program, you have to have tendencies that reveal themselves, namely culture and we’re trying to see what the culture is at Cloverdale and maybe see if it needs redefined.

“As coaches, we’re not the only piece of the culture; we may have the loudest voice but what we want is to be tough on both ends of the floor and stick to the strength in numbers mantra. The last couple of years, we’ve had strong individual talent and that became the culture of the school, not just the program and not one that valued strength in numbers.

“When you had players as good as Jalen (Moore), Kyle (Thomas) and Cooper (Neese), guys that were as good as they were, you could feed off them,” Turk added. “We’re not constructed that way right now and the collective strength of the group has to really improve.”

After that, Turk added it was important to ride the wave of momentum and not let is subside, not only in terms of participation but in terms of the quality on the floor.

“The next thing to get after is that, in years moving forward, in order to have strength in numbers we don’t want to see a lack of participation,” Turk said. “Athletics does too much for students, as a vehicle to learn discipline and be in life situations where you can be put into tough situations and yet still be nurtured.

“I mean, where else can you go on the road, be in a spot where you have 1,000 people around you and try to block that out? We don’t want anybody to miss out on the teamwork and perseverance that athletics brings to people.

“We’re also hoping that we’re putting out a product on the floor that the people of Cloverdale can be absolutely proud of,” Turk continued. “The intensity on the floor is something that Cloverdale should be known for while also being gentlemen and scholars off the floor.

“I love to talk about my educational pursuits with the kids and I love that I personify that to them, working on a PhD while teaching, being both a JAG teacher and a Spanish teacher,” Turk said. “I can show them the academic component is at the forefront of their time and live it as well.”

While getting the players on side had been easy, getting community interest back to the levels it had seen over the past decade was something Turk also wanted to have happen.

“We want everyone to think Cloverdale basketball is back,” Turk said. “Some think it disappeared, even if those close to the program and observes don’t think so but since there hasn’t been any additions to the banners since 2018, it’s easy for some to perceive that it disappeared.

“I want everyone to believe that Cloverdale is back and the biggest takeaway for me personally is that I want the feeling of knowing that strength in numbers is not a mantra that emerged but the way the school and the basketball program predicates itself on. I want our players to embody that idea and through it the way we conduct ourselves.”

While only seeing around half the players in the fall workouts with others participating in fall sports, Turk said many of the players currently able to practice were newer to the sport or the team and was eager to see how they responded to the challenges that lay ahead of them, something that would help determine whether he had been the right man for the job in the end.

“I will take special pride of the job in seeing the vast number of players that have never played before or played sparingly, gotten better and have come back to the game,” Turk added. “I take a lot of joy in seeing the ones who take it to the next level and the juniors and seniors who are taking ownership of this team, becoming the driving force behind getting us going.

“I want to see a lot of the kids that are dipping their toes in the water with us stick with us, knowing there will be some challenges ahead. Those challenges will be hard and difficult at times but, after going through them all together, hopefully everyone wants to continue.

“Lastly, I’m hoping that those in charge of this decision, those on the school board and administrators, look back in a year and feel they got this decision right, something that’s not always the case after one year.”