Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008
Two boys basketball state championship banners hang alone on the far side of Rockville High’s gymnasium — 1971 and 1973. Friday the Rams paid homage to the man responsible for those two titles. In an emotional ceremony between Friday’s girls and boys basketball doubleheader against Watkins Mill — the Rockville girls won 48-42; the boys lost 58-32 — the Rockville gym was officially renamed Jim Connor Coliseum, in memory of the program’s first-ever boys varsity basketball coach, who lost his battle with cancer in December 2006.
Connor led the Rams’ boys program from 1968-1982, compiling an impressive 274-104 record. He led the Rams to six state tournament appearances in 1971, 1973, 1975 and 1980-82, winning the title in 1971, with the school’s first-ever senior class, and 1973.
In a reunion-like atmosphere about 60 alumni, including 22 of Connor’s former players, gathered at Rockville Friday as athletics director Paul Fahrner presented Connor’s wife, Jeanne, who now lives in Reedville, Va., with a plaque. An identical one will hang outside the gym’s main entrance and a sign will be erected above the scoreboard with the gym’s name.
Friday’s ceremony was the culmination of a year-long effort spearheaded by Donald Davis, a senior on the 1975 state semifinal squad, as well as Rockville’s alumni association. Farhner, Rockville boys and girls basketball coaches G.J. Kissal and Mark Crichton, and Rockville principal Debra Munk, made the ultimate decision after reviewing Connor’s credentials, as well as former players’ and students’ feedback.
‘‘Most of us looked up to him as another father figure,” said Davis, who now lives in Gaithersburg. ‘‘He was probably the most well-known teacher in the school. He was a great coach, a great teacher. He taught us how to play the game. You only did something stupid one time. He was very creative. No one beat him twice. ”
A lot has changed at Rockville the last four decades. The school, which originally opened in 1968, was torn down in 2002 for renovation and just reopened to students in 2004. But the main gym, with some nice touchups, is the same one Connor coached in — the main and auxiliary gyms and auditorium were kept from the original building.
Friday was about more than honoring Rockville’s beloved coach though. It was about trying to renew the Rams’ winning tradition. The girls squad (10-6) has done better each of the last four years with this year being its best since 1999-00, when it went 14-9 en route to clinching the county’s 2A⁄1A Division. The boys (1-18), who lined the hardwood during Friday’s ceremony, are trying to rebuild the program.
‘‘The kids see the banners in the gym but those dates are so long ago it doesn’t mean a lot,” Fahrner said. ‘‘It was nice to show them Rockville’s winning tradition. Show them what’s possible. Here’s the past and now let’s move forward.”
The consensus around the gym Friday was though Connor came off as a tough guy, he had a soft spot for his students and players. He was hard on them, because he expected so much. But he had a special way of connecting with them, always helping them reach their full potential. It was evident 37 years ago as he coached the Rams to their first-ever state title, and again in Friday’s turnout.
‘‘He had a great rapport with his players and his students,” Farhner said. ‘‘He had a great personality and ability to communicate and bond with them. And his record is one of the best of any coach at Rockville.”
