(Joe Lombard will be inducted into the WBU Athletics Hall of Honor along with Mark Adams, Kirby Dunn, Daniel Franklin, Serenity King, Kristina Edwards Lee, Dr. Claude Lusk, Don Christa & Caren Smith, and Jodie Young during ceremonies at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23 in the Laney Center. Ray Murphree will be awarded the Harley Redin Coach's Award. A continental breakfast begins at 8:30. The public is invited).
That his time at Wayland Baptist College helped direct Joe Lombard into a career in coaching should certainly be one of the school's proudest claims to fame. An admitted "pretty average player" when he suited up for the Pioneers from 1971-75, Lombard had no intention of going into coaching. "When I was in college I had people tell me I should coach. That was never in my thought process, but maybe they thought there was something in me that led them to believe that maybe I could coach."
Whoever it was that steered Lombard that direction knew what they were doing. With close to 1,300 victories, a winning percentage of almost 92 percent, and 19 state championships (in addition to seven cross country state titles), Lombard is one of the winningest high school basketball coaches in the country. He's been named National High School Coach of the Year three times and has been inducted into no fewer than six halls of fame, including the National Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.
The son of a railroading father and mother who worked as a lab technician and library aide (both were "very good athletes," he said), Lombard grew up in basketball country – Fort Wayne, Ind. "Mom always said she was so good she was on varsity as an eighth grader," Lombard recalls. One of his fondest childhood memories occurred in the sixth grade in 1965 and Fort Wayne Northside High School qualified for the state basketball tournament. "Every playoff game was televised and Hilliard Gates, the announcer in 'Hoosiers,' did the commentary. I think I fell in love with the game at that moment. It consumed me a little bit. I played other sports, but basketball is what I was most drawn to."
Lombard was recruited to Wayland by Pioneers coach Bob Clindaniel. "I'm not sure if I chose Wayland or Wayland chose me, but I think it was God's plan for me to end up down here. I wanted to get out and see another part of the country. I didn't know a soul at Wayland College, then it became a big part of my life. I ended up just loving the people and the community. I was able to get my education and let my Christian faith grow."
A 6-foot-3 guard/forward who was a team captain and scholar-athlete, Lombard played for the Pioneers for four years. "Our teams did not have great win-loss records (a combined 40-87), but my sophomore year was my best team. We finished about .500 (17-18) and did win a playoff game. We were kind of up and down, but I learned a lot." Lombard averaged around six points a game throughout his career, but "had a couple of games where I scored 19 or 20 points."
Soon after earning his business administration degree in 1975 (he majored in education and minored in English), Lombard married Babs Tatum. A native of Winters, Texas, Babs is probably more responsible for Joe getting into coaching than anyone. After playing for and then coaching Wayland's Queen Bees (and being crowned Miss Wayland 1973), Babs began coaching Hale Center High School. "There wasn't a lot to do in Hale Center, so I went up to the gym a lot and played basketball with the kids and really fell in love with coaching," Lombard said. "Coaching was never in my thought process; I was thinking about getting out and making money." But the coaching bug caught hold.
Lombard was working as a shoe salesman for Cleveland Athletics when Nazareth ISD called during teacher in-service in 1978 and asked him to become their head basketball coach. "I had to go back and get my (teacher) certification and take extra hours. Wayland was gracious to work with me. Dr. Don Cook helped me with that."
Nazareth already had started building a reputation as a small-school girls' basketball powerhouse, having won two Class 1A state titles in a row. Now their coach was going to be a 24-year-old shoe salesman. "The people there always called me the 'Shoe Man' because I sold sporting goods to them."
The Shoe Man quickly proved himself a pretty decent coach as the Swiftettes won state six of his seven years at Nazareth. "Those were seven of the greatest years of my life. I learned so much and enjoyed it so much," Lombard said. His very first state title, in 1979, was special not only because it was his first but because that same season Babs' Hale Center team also won state, in Class 2A. It was Babs' final year to coach before resigning to start their family.
Lombard has gone on to win 13 more state championships in his 32 years at Canyon High School, including the last four in a row. "We've had so many good teams, so many good players," Lombard said.
As for his most memorable seasons and teams, there's been a few. Among them are four undefeated teams – two at Naz and two at Canyon. Of the 20 girls' basketball teams to post unbeaten seasons in Texas high school history, Lombard's squads have four of them. One was in 1996, which was extra special because his daughter Lindy was a starter on the team. (Lindy Slagle recently stepped down as head coach at Grapevine High School, where her teams set school records for wins, in order to reduce the strain of her schedule following the birth of son Owen in December. She now serves as assistant coach at Argyle High School.)
Lombard twice has won state titles on the same day as son Tate, who is head girls' coach at Class 3A Wall High School. The first time, in 2014, came during back-to-back games at the state tournament. "Those were some awesome times for the Lombard family."
Lombard said "maybe the best team I ever coached" was his 2000 squad that featured future Tech Lady Raider Jolee Ayers. That group finished as the No. 2 team in the nation, three years before his 2003 squad was crowned USA Today National Champion. That same year Lombard earned the first of his three National High School Coach of the Year honors, was named Canyon's Citizen of the Year and earned the UIL Excellence Award. "There are way more memories than that, but those are some of the highlights," said Lombard, who in addition to the National Women's Basketball Hall of Fame also has been enshrined by Canyon High School, Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (for which he served as president in 2006), Texas Girls Coaches Association, and the National High School Hall of Fame.
With a career record of 1,290-117 (which includes a 61-9 mark coaching boys at Nazareth), Lombard received the Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2015. "All of these halls of fame and other things, there are so many people who played such a huge part in all of that. Everything is team-oriented.
"I feel like God gives all of us some type of strength, and I feel like He gave me the passion for the game," Lombard added. "I have a passion for teaching and learning basketball, as well as teaching kids leadership skills. I also love building relationships. I'm constantly studying to try to become a better coach, a better person. Once I stop having that drive it'll be time to get out."
And while the 64-year-old who is about to enter his 40
th season on the sidelines admits retirement has been in the back of his mind the last few years, he's playing it season-by-season. "As long as I enjoy it and have good health and can still relate to kids I'll stay with it, but I'm definitely close to the end. I'm not really chasing any goals or dreams, I'm just kind of chasing the next season. It's always been that way. I never wanted to coach at Notre Dame or get 1,000 wins or get into any hall of fame. I just wanted to help my team be the best it can be. The fun thing is each year you get to start it over again."
In 2000, Lombard was the first winner of the Harley Redin Coach's Award, named in honor of the former Flying Queens coach who was finishing his legendary career at Wayland when Lombard was a student-athlete there. During that time Lombard got to know both Redin and his Flying Queens successor, Dean Weese, against whom Lombard would have some epic coaching battles when Weese – a member of the WBU Athletics Hall of Honor since 2000 – coached at Levelland High School. "Dean helped me with my shot. He had great expertise with the set shot. He and I have had a great relationship ever since. We've played many rounds of golf together and worked many camps together. I learned a great deal from him."
While Lombard, who has had just two technical fouls called against him in his entire career, didn't envision coaching when he was attending Wayland, it's the only thing he can see himself doing today. "I can't imagine doing anything else now. I'm thankful to have attended Wayland. The Lord caught hold of me and directed me into coaching. My attitude about coaching changed, and marrying Babs helped with that process. I feel really blessed to have a job that I enjoy doing and look forward to every day."
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