Coaching legacies can last decades for families.
For the Gilliland family of rural Ogden, that notion has resonated for a quarter of a century and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Dwayne Gilliland, the patriarch of the family, has been coaching middle school basketball at Prairieview-Ogden for 25 years.
His sons Chase and Jamey coach as well. They started by helping their Dad coach his teams.
“I’ve coached at the fifth and sixth grade level for the entire time,” Dwayne said. “I’ve never really had any desire to move up to the older ranks, instead wanting to stay at the entry-level for the kids and help them out.”
When the seventh and eighth-grade coaching job became open, Dwayne told Chase and he applied.
Chase took the seventh and eighth grade job because he had switched jobs and the flexibility allowed him to become the coach of the team.
Chase led the Mustangs to the state title game this past February, losing a thriller 36-35 to Lincoln West Lincoln Broadwell.
According to Chase, it wasn’t much of what he did, but the players that he was graced with were the difference.
“We pretty much knew at the beginning of the season that we had a pretty good team,” he said. “Most of those kids had played for my Dad, so they were familiar with what we were teaching them once they got to seventh grade.”
Jamey, the middle son, is in his third season helping his brother coach. He has coached for five years total. As expected, being around the game for his entire life gave him the urge to help his brother coach.
“We’d play pickup games with our friends, so it’s been a part of my life for a long time,” Jamey said.
With basketball being a winter sport, their season was completed well before the mandatory shutdown began, but as Dwayne notes, activities involving their youngest son, Trey, who is the only one not coaching, played a part in their scheduling.
“About two weeks before the shutdown began, we were over at Bradley University watching our youngest, Trey, perform in the Bradley pep band,” Dwayne said. “He was recognized for senior night, and then soon after that, everything began shutting down little by little. Thank goodness that we were able to get our seasons in before everything came to a halt.”
Regarding the state championship run, Dwayne felt an overwhelming sense of pride overseeing his two sons being able to experience that.
“I was probably more involved than other dads would have been, since I kept the scorebook and drove the team bus to away games,” he said. “Still, being at the championship game and seeing my sons on the sidelines coaching the team made my hair stand up on the back of my neck. You cannot explain it any other way.”
PVO includes the towns of Royal, Ogden and Flatville, and the seventh and eighth graders played their home games at the Flatville school, which has one of the smaller gyms around the area.
According to Dwayne, being in the state title game against Lincoln West Lincoln Broadwell added to the excitement due to the size of the gym that they were playing in.
“It was a true “Hoosiers” experience, with our gym being so small and then going to East Peoria and playing in a gym that size,” he said. “Even St. Joseph, our rivals and who we share the high school district with, has one of the bigger gyms in the area. Since we were the first game of the day at the state tournament, there wasn’t anyone in the gym when we got there, but we told them that once they took the floor, it would be an entirely different atmosphere.”
As for how long the Gillilands plan to continue, Chase and Jamey are still young enough to coach for several more years, but for Dwayne, it’s a year-by-year decision.
“I always think about it (stepping down), but then the end of the season comes and I wish I had a few more weeks with the players, so I’m not sure when that time will come,” Dwayne said.
The Gilliland legacy at PVO is a true family affair and doesn’t show any signs of ending anytime soon.
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