WILMINGTON, Ohio – Wilmington College Head Women’s Basketball Coach Jerry Scheve, who has headed the program since the 1990-91 season, has announced his retirement from the sidelines after coaching the Quakers for 30 seasons.
“When Dick Scott gave me the opportunity to coach this program, it was a dream come true,” Scheve said. “I am really proud of the basketball program we have built here together and all that we were able to accomplish. I am most proud of the athletes I have been blessed to coach and the assistant coaches I have been fortunate enough to work with. As a coach, you hope you have an impact on your players’ lives, but I know they have had a huge impact on mine, and I will be forever grateful to them. If you look at the success so many of my assistants have had both at Wilmington College and elsewhere, you will understand that they were a huge part of any success we have had here.”
Scheve guided Wilmington to 518 career victories in his three decades leading the program and departs as one of the winningest coaches in NCAA Division III history as well as collegiately in the state of Ohio. He is one of just over 30 NCAA Division III coaches to have crossed the 500-victory plateau. A member of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame, Scheve led the Quakers to the 2004 national championship, the school’s only team national title to date. For his efforts, Scheve was named National Coach of the Year.
Eleven of Scheve’s teams won 20 or more games with six of those qualifying for the NCAA Division III Tournament. He guided Wilmington through the Association of Mideast Colleges (AMC), the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) and the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) as well as being an independent institution for two years from 1996-98. In what’s a testament to Scheve’s longevity of success, the Quakers earned conference titles in each of those leagues including four in the OAC.
“Jerry Scheve has been a mainstay both at Wilmington College and in our athletics department for over three decades,” Vice President of Athletic Administration and Director of Athletics Terry Rupert said. “His teams have had consistant success through the years culminating with perhaps the College’s greatest athletic achievement in its 150-year history – winning to the 2004 national championship. Jerry and his program have been great representatives of Wilmington College, and I wish him nothing but the best in retirement.”
Scheve has coached 19 All-Americans including Tara Rausch, who was named Third Team All-Decade by D3Hoops.com. His teams also excelled in the classroom having frequently appeared on the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Honor Roll. Additionally, Megan Woodruff twice earned Academic All-American honors as well as garnering the prestigious Academic All-American of the Year Award in 2003.
Alongside his coaching duties, Scheve was an assistant professor of accounting at the College, a position he held since 1977.
“It’s difficult to express what Wilmington College has meant to me as it gave me the opportunity to do what I love which is teach,” said Scheve. “I am very proud of the accounting program we were able to develop over the years.”
Wilmington will conduct a national search to find its next head women’s basketball coach.
