By Bob Adams
The dictionary defines an institution as an established
organization, corporation or public figure.
No man from Clay Township High School in Miami county fits this
description better than Eddie Lippold.
Eddie Lippold was born November 26, 1902. He attended Bunker Hill High
School and Manchester College.
Prior to 1922, there was no high school in Clay Township. Students from
the ten township grade schools had to attend high school in Amboy, Bunker Hill, Howard
Township or Kokomo.
This all changed in the early 1920’s when it was decided that a
high school would be built in the center of the township, and would include all 12 grades.
The school opened for the 1922-23 school year, and when the bell rang
and the doors opened, Eddie Lippold was there, teaching fifth and sixth grade students.
There were basketball coaches at the school before Eddie Lippold. John
Conn coached the first team at the school, followed by Carl Jenkins and Albert Flaugh, who
coached two years each.
Eddie Lippold
But, when the sixth edition of the Indians took to the floor for the
1927-28 season, Eddie Lippold was on the sidelines, a spot he would occupy until 1957,
some 30 years later.
No wins in sectional title games are included in Lippold’s 384
wins, but he did take the Indians to the title game nine times, including three straight
years from 1929-31. The Indians met Peru in the final game all ten times. The Indians came
close, losing by one point in 1930, two points in 1935 and 1936, and by three points in
overtime in 1939.
Lippold did guide his Indians to the final game of the Miami county
tourney 13 times. Clay Township won seven county titles during Lippold’s tenure, the
first coming in 1930, the last coming in 1957, his final season.
Lippold had some excellent seasons. His 1935 team went 23-4, his 1940
team went 21-5, and his last team in 1957 went 19-3.
He also turned out several players who followed in his footsteps, going
on to become teachers and coaches. One of his protoges was Claude Wolfe, who coached two
seasons at Converse before entering military service, then came back after the war and
coached for several years at Manchester College.
Lippold retired from coaching after the 1956-57 season and left Clay
Township. He spent the last four years of his teaching career at the Roosevelt Elementary
school in Kokomo. He passed away on April 13, 1990, at the ripe old age of 87.
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Eddie Lippold’s Coaching Record
At Clay Twp
Year Record
Year
Record
1928 09-15
1951
16-07C
1929 18-06*
1952
05-15
1930 15-10C*
1953
09-11
1931 19-07*
1954
08-13
1932 09-13
1955
10-12
1933 07-15
1956
10-12
1934 09-15
1957
19-03C
1935 23-04*
1936 20-02C* *Sectional R/U
1937 17-07 C-County Champs
1938 15-10
1939 17-05*
1940 21-05C*
1941 12-11
1942 07-18*
1943 07-16
1944 08-14
1945 05-18*
1946 16-08C
1947 19-05
1948 13-08
1949 11-13C
1950 10-10
John was born in Tippecanoe County Indiana. He
moved to the Wingate area at an early age and graduated from Wingate High School in 1914.
He was a member of the 1913 and 1914 Wingate State Champion basketball teams. John was a
starting guard for both of these teams. He never scored in either of the final four games
in either year. He was the play making guard.
After he graduated from Wingate he entered Wabash
College but stayed only one year. He was married in 1915 to Marian Moser. He finished his
higher education at Central Normal and Butler. He starting coaching basketball at Wingate
in the 1916-17 season. He coached at Wingate for two years and then moved to
Crawfordsville where he coached for three years. His Wingate basketball team won the
sectional title in both 1917 and 1918. In both of these years Wingate
advanced to the sixteen team finals at Indiana University but lost in their first game
both years. The Crawfordsville basketball team advanced to the final four, in his first
year as their coach, before they lost to Lafayette a team they had defeated twice in the
regular season. Bloomington won the state title in 1919 and C'ville had beaten this team
by Twenty Three points in the Regular Season. C'ville ended the season with a 30 WON and 4
loss season. This was the most wins a C'ville team EVER had in one season. The 1919-20
season was the year that the IHSAA declared both C'ville and Wingate ineligible. C'ville
finished the season with a 29 and 2 record. The 1920-21 season was John's last season at
C'ville and they again won the sectional but lost their
first game in the Regional. They ended up with a 15-14 record. This made their three year
record under John at 72 and 20 or a 798 winning record. This was the BEST winning percent
of any C'ville coach who coached for three years or longer at C'ville.
John started coaching at Waveland in the 1921-22 season and
remained their coach for ELEVEN seasons. While coaching at Waveland his basketball team
NEVER won a sectional. They did finish as runner in the 1932 Montgomery County Tourney.
When John left Waveland he went to Gilboa Twp.in Benton County. This school is now part of
Tri County High School
which is located in the West Central White County near Wolcott, Indiana. John stayed there
for five years before leaving. His teams at Gilboa Twp. NEVER won a sectional.
To the best of my knowledge he didn't coach in the 37-38 season.
At the start of the 1938-39 season John became coach at Eden High School. Eden is in
Hancock County and is now part of
Greenfield Central High School. He was coach there for SIX seasons. Again his teams NEVER
won a sectional. He left Eden and went to Romney at the start of the 44-45 season. He
remained Romney's basketball coach for TEN seasons. Again his teams NEVER won a sectional.
I read that John coached for a total of THIRTY SIX years but if you add up the numbers at
each school you come up with Thirty Seven. Maybe he coached one year less at either Gilboa
or Eden.
No matter whether it was 36 or 37 years his teams after winning
four sectional titles in his first five years of coaching NEVER again WON a sectional
Title. I am NOT sure what his total record is for all of these years, but I would guess
that his teams won somewhere between 275 and 325 games in all.
After John retired from coaching he remained a
teacher for a few years. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife, two sons
and a brother. John is buried in the Greenlawn Cemetery which is located at the north edge
of Wingate.
