Jackson campers put in the work to continue program’s growing success

Tim Debevec has been on multiple basketball staffs in his long coaching career.
He has been on the staffs of GlenOak basketball coach Jack Greynolds Jr., North Canton Hoover head coach Randy Montgomery and then with former Jackson and current University of Mount Union basketball head coach Mike Fuline.

What Fuline conceived during the 2004-05 season at Jackson finally reached it's pinnacle in 2010 when the Polar Bears won their first ever state championship in the form of a boys basketball crown. Two years later, Debevec is the caretaker of what Fuline conceived.

The Jackson High School basketball staff and players were in charge of more than 350 campers who filled the school’s three gyms for the week-long basketball camp for students in grades K-8 inside the high school gymnasium. The excitement is still visible under Debevec, who concluded his first year atop the Jackson program with the team winning their third consecutive Federal League title and coming within three points of a third straight district title game appearance despite losing nine players to graduation the previous season.

It takes hard work to be a Polar Bear and that is the message Debevec sends to campers.

“We have great kids in our program that want to better their basketball skills. They would rather be here instead of sitting at home. We have a lot of great kids that want to get in our program,” he said. “You have to apply what you have learned in camp and strive to get better.”

Jackson has become a power in  Federal League basketball. Since 2010, Jackson has reestablished itself as a league stalwart that thrives on accurate shooting along with a unforgiving defense that harasses other teams into turnovers.

That was put on display last season in what was a season-turning game at Lake. The Blue Streaks entered their contest undefeated on the season and poised to assume the league throne with first place on the line. Unflinching in hostile territory, the visiting Polar Bears were able to fend off a Blue Streaks’ second half rally and departed with an exciting 48-43 road win.

That win propelled Jackson to first place in the league and they never relinquished the position, eventually sharing the title with Perry and Canton McKinley. Now they have an obligation to maintain that position.

“We graduated 15 players in two years. To win that league title, we had to work hard to get there. Now we have to get better in the offseason. The league will be balanced again. Our goal is to win the league title and then a district title and go from there,” Debevec said.

Undefeated freshman squad
Scott Studer has coached the Jackson freshman basketball team for 16 years.
Last season's Jackson team was a deep team that seized the Federal League tournament championship with an unblemished 18-0 record.

Studer's teams have relied on tradition and discipline to formulate their winning success. That is bred early in elementary school when young boys are watching the current high school players and patiently awaiting their time before they obtain their chance to shine in the spotlight.

“We had a lot of players on our team that worked hard this past season on all components. From one to 13, we had players who always played hard every game,” Studer said. “The players develop a familiarity of what we run during the seventh and eighth grades and once they get to the high school, they know what is expected out of them under my tutelage.”

With familiarity also comes maturity. The maturity displays itself during a camper's time through drills. Teal Harvey, who doubles as the girls high school golf coach, is one coach who holds players to a high standard.

During a drill, Harvey put a team through a simulated game situation in which a team had to make 10 successful passes without turning the ball over. Jackson is a team that thrives under pressure situations and the passing drill he conducted is one that will prime players for such situations when it comes to protecting the basketball.

“We go through situations of what a team will try to do and we want them to try and get open and avoid turnovers,” he said.

Studer is a head coach who looks to get the best out of his players. This much is clear - success just doesn't commence at camp.

“Success takes a lot of effort. You can't expect success without having confidence in yourself,” he said.

Jackson basketball in the blood
For Miles Griffin, being a Jackson Polar Bear player and camp coach takes on a special meaning for him. Two years ago that his older brother Steve was a contributor on the 2010 state championship team and nearly snagged another district title before concluding his prep career and following his prep coach to the University of Mount Union, where he started as a freshman this past season.

Miles is entering his senior year and is exactly in the same shoes that Steve was in as a senior. Both were young players who both went through the program as campers before their time came to shine in the spotlight at Jackson.

He knows what today's campers are going through and he can relate to them and the excitement that came with being on the Jackson floor.

“The kids don't know you at first until you introduce yourself to them. Then when they see you play, they want to be like you and they recognize you. You have to be a role model for them,” he said. “I give all the credit to the coaches here because we are all family here and we all would be there for each other and give our all. At Jackson we stress that it is about us and not I.”

Jackson assistant coach Chris Marshall can attest to Griffin's words as well. A father of two sons that are in the camp, Marshall is grooming his two sons, Adam and Matt, to be Polar Bears. A key for this according to Marshall is that Jackson is a high school that wins with players from the district without using transfers.

Marshall pointed to the success of the Jackson Youth Basketball Association as a factor to why the Polar Bears have thrived with more than 500 players playing youth basketball. And those players have the intelligence to execute plays without any hesitance as they ascend from the elementary school rank to the high school scene.

It all goes back to the patriarch of the program.

“Coach Debevec does a great job with the program from top to bottom and the kids buy into what he puts into it into the camp and in the offseason,” Marshall said. “That allows us to play guys 9 to 11 deep each year and that helps us during games.”

“You can do anything you want to no matter what the critics may say out there. They are not the ones playing the game,” Griffin added. “This is what you come to Jackson for.”

Assistant coach Jon Perdue is also part of the staff, building the program he never defeated as a player in his four years playing for coach Bob Newton at Perry.

Jami Bosley is the all-time leading scorer in Jackson High School history. Even kids are familiar with the Bosley name whenever it is mentioned. And that is one of the factors that makes camp fun for athletes.

“It all comes down to having fun. You get a chance to play basketball and you get to know your players and coaches,” Perdue said. “We all have a responsibilities as coaches and players and we are no different from each other.”

At the end of the day, players get to know each other and form bonds that will carry them through high school. Those bonds are still there well after the respective seasons come to a conclusion. No matter if they play for a purple or a gold team, the Jackson standard will remain intact.

And a 42-year-old father of three daughters is committed to keep that edge going.
“Mike Fuline was a hard worker and a great coach who is doing the same at Mount Union. We have kept the same camaraderie going with our players all the way from the lower levels to high school,” Debevec said. He even threw the females who served lunch to campers a bone as well.

“We have the best camp food in the area too!”