“Kats with a K”

by Dean W. Hockney

My friend Wil Hampton, Sports Director at WISH-TV in Indianapolis, coined that phrase for use in his telecasts when referring to the strange spelling Kokomo High School uses for its nickname, the Wildkats.

However, when Coach Louis Guetz led Kokomo High School onto the basketball floor for the first time in 1904, the name Wildcat -- or as it would officially become later, Wildkat -- was a nickname not even thought of at the school bordering the Wildcat Creek. And no one was sure the sport would take hold in what would become the City of Firsts.

In fact, as you will read, the girl’s program actually was the forerunner of the boy’s team.

I have the unique advantage of watching Kokomo High School basketball from one of the best seats in some of the best gyms in the entire United States -- press row.

Being a 1986 graduate of Kokomo High School, I have always been enamored with the Red and Blue. Unfortunately, I was not a gifted basketball player, so I did not have the opportunity to dress and run the floors at Memorial Gymnasium.

Now, when I play in charity basketball games at Memorial Gym, I look up at the stands and think back on 50 years of history that was produced in the famed complex. And I dream of the 100 years of hardwood action that has taken place on the courts through the years.

Even when I cover a game for my newspaper, The Kokomo Perspective, I can’t help but look into the rafters and stare at the banners from the years gone by. And one always seems to stand out -- the 1961 boys basketball state championship banner.

Sure, the girl’s program has flourished into the best in Indiana with its three state titles in the last 11 years. But it is the magic of the boys title, back in a day when people actually lived and breathed the game invented by Dr. James Naismith all those years ago.

It was a magical time, a time when fans of Kokomo basketball actually stood in line to get a seat -- even when they had tickets. A time when the Kokomo administration decided to sell split season tickets so everyone had a chance to see the game on Friday or Saturday night. And this was in a gym that held more than 7,000 screaming fans. I often wish I had lived during those times.

And the sectionals? That was something special. I can’t even imagine what it was like to have to sit in Memorial Gym during a raffle to get tickets to the hottest game in town.

In this day of class basketball -- which I am against but have come to accept -- the game just isn’t the same. Can you name Mr. Basketball of two years ago? Or who were the four state champions just last year?

My money says the majority of people reading this book -- most of whom are knowledgable basketball fans -- can’t answer those two questions.

And that is why I find the history of Kokomo basketball so compelling. Sure, current head coach Mike Wade is doing an outstanding job as the Wildkat mentor, but the days of entertaining a packed house are gone. There are no more sellouts of Memorial Gymnasium. In fact, what was once a grand temple to the game of Hoosier Hysteria has now shriveled in size to less than 6,000 seats. What a shame.

Thus, this book is written to tell the story of days gone by, when the game actually mattered to an entire city.

I am writing history for all Wildkat fans. And while I am on the subject, I just want to let everyone know that I will use the term “Wildkat” instead of “Wildcat,” simply for the sake of uniformity. I know that may offend the diehard old-timers out there, but please bear with me, because this book is for you to relive your memories -- and for a new generation to fall in love with a team one man fondly calls, “Kats with a K.