By Steve Raymond
News Report Staff
When Kent Niebrugge walks to the podium to officially become a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, he will be thinking of the many people that helped him achieve this special honor.
His parents, wife, children, friends and fellow coaches have all made positive impacts in Kent’s life.
But if it wasn’t for his Uncle Fred Walk, who knows what Kent would be doing today. It certainly wouldn’t be teaching and coaching.
“I did my student teaching at Bloomington High School and it was a horrible experience,” Kent recalled. “I did not want to teach any more.
“But Uncle Fred told me to give it a chance,” Kent added. “He told me that not every school was like Bloomington. He said ‘you might really like this.’”
Those words turned out to be prophetic. Just two weeks into his first teaching job in Kinmundy, “I knew I had made the right choice.”
Then after one year in Kinmundy, Kent was able to return to his hometown as a teacher and coach. In 2000, he became the head coach of the Teutopolis Junior High 8th grade boys basketball team and a Hall of Fame career was underway. In 21 seasons, his Wooden Shoes teams have compiled more than 400 wins and captured three state championships.
“Thank God Uncle Fred talked to me,” Kent said.
Kent is the 50-year-old son of Jim and Alice Niebrugge. He was born and raised in Teutopolis and graduated from THS in 1988. He attended both Lake Land College and Illinois State University, graduating from ISU in 1993 with a degree in physical education and health.
He and his wife, Angie, have two children – Claire, 18, a freshman at the University of Mississippi; and James, 15, a sophomore at Teutopolis High School.
Growing up, Kent had played “anything with a ball,” but liked baseball and basketball best. But he really didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life.
“When I was in sixth grade, I wanted to be a sportswriter,” he recalled. “Marge Weissing was my sixth grade teacher and she told me I had a knack for writing. But I wasn’t a model student, so that kind of faded.”
He also thought about a career in health and fitness, helping business people stay fit and improve their work productivity. But he figured that would require living in a big city and that wasn’t an option.
He also considered applying at the State Police Academy.
But his college roommate, Tom Kimball, encouraged Kent to consider going into teaching and coaching. Turns out that was sound advice.
“Two days after Tom talked to me about that, I saw my counselor and changed my major,” Kent explained. “It took me an extra year plus one semester to finish, but it’s all worked out very well.”
Kent started as teacher and coach at South Central Middle School in Kinmundy in 1994. The following year, there was an opening in T-Town and he got the job. He started off teaching P.E. and math, and coaching the 8th grade girls basketball team.
He coached the Lady Shoes for four years and also coached the fresh-soph boys team, two years with Andy Fehrenbacher and one with Rich Probst. He then took over as the boys 8th grade basketball coach for the 1999-2000 season and found an immediate fit. His first team went 17-6 and reached the regional finals.
“I’m one of the most competitive people you’re ever going to meet,” Kent admitted. “If one of my teams was not good at something, I made darn sure we got better at it. At one time, the fear of losing drove me more to winning than the gratitude of winning itself. Thankfully, I’ve chilled a little through the years.”
He may have “chilled,” but he’s never had a losing season. His 2004 squad finished 11-11, but his 21-year record stands at 415-112, an impressive 79 percent winning percentage.
His TJHS teams have a regional title for 14 consecutive years and have advanced to the state tournament 10 times. Under Kent’s guidance, his Wooden Shoes teams have played in five state championship games, bringing home three titles.
“I never really planned on coaching in my hometown,” he noted. “But when the opportunity came, I liked the idea of coming home. I didn’t know if I’d end up staying here, but I’ve never thought about going anywhere else.
“In this town, you know every year you’ll have kids that will work hard for you and be willing to learn,” Kent added. “These kids come from good homes and have good values. Plus, whether it’s the parents or the administration, they let coaches coach here. That’s not the case everywhere.”
He credits several role models that have made a difference in his life.
“I always start with my parents,” Kent said. “They are very conservative, old-school, disciplined parents. They’re very good people.”
He also mentioned Mick Deters and Dave Julius – who he both played for and has coached with; Don “Duker” Brumleve – who was his fresh-soph baseball coach and has helped him with coaching the TJHS baseball team; Jim Hakman, who was Kent’s principal as a kid and actually hired him at TJHS; and Ken Crawford, his high school basketball coach.
“Coach Crawford was influential in my life,” Kent noted. “When I was 15-16, I was in need of additional guidance. Thankfully, Kenny saw something in me that was worth salvaging. He decided he was going to find out if this Niebrugge kid was going to sink or swim and he ran me until I straightened up.
“Even after high school, I would talk to Coach Crawford,” Kent added. “His door was always open.”
Kent also talked about Doug Smith, the coach of the TJHS 7th grade boys basketball team and a close friend.
“Some people probably think Doug and I don’t like each other some games,” Kent said with a bit of a laugh. “But we complement each other very well. He’s not afraid to point out what my team isn’t doing well and I do the same thing for his team.
“We might get mad at each other at times, but it has never affected our friendship,” Kent noted. “In fact, he and I are very good friends, even outside of coaching. I have the utmost trust in Doug.
Being inducted into the Hall of Fame was something Kent thought “would be kind of neat,” but it was never a goal.
“I always thought it would be nice to be recognized, but I didn’t see it coming,” he explained. “Then one day I got a letter in the mail, telling me that Steve Allen, from the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, had nominated me.”
Then a little later, Kent received another letter, this time confirming his selection to The Hall.
“I was honored, but I decided not to tell anyone,” he said. “But then it came out on the news and people started contacting me.”
The Hall of Fame is scheduled to be held sometime this spring, but due to COVID, nothing is for sure at this point.
But Kent is sure he will continue to coach “as long as I have the drive and enjoy doing what I do. If I ever feel like I’ve lost touch with the kids, I’ll step away. I want to make sure these kids get the best coaching they can.”
Ask Kent about special memories and he can rattle off several games, like the 2016 state semifinal victory over Wheaton, the best junior high team he’d ever seen at the state tournament.
“I didn’t know how we could match up with them,” he noted. “They had everything you need for a great basketball team.”
Setting a state tournament record with eight 3-pointers proved to be the winning formula. That victory catapulted the Wooden Shoes into the championship game where they beat St. Joseph-Ogden to give Kent his first state title.
But Kent remembers the 2016 and 2019 championship teams for another reason as well. His daughter was a cheerleader on the ’16 squad and his son played on the 2019 team.
“To have the whole family involved is like a storybook,” Kent admitted. “I’m honored to be inducted into The Hall, but to celebrate those championships with my family easily tops the Hall of Fame.”
