Over Time: Coach Katte on Basketball and Life

Coach Dick Katte's secret is simple and straightforward; work very hard and demand the same from your team, adapt to the changes in players and parents over time and never waver from the core principles that make you one of the most honored and respected coaches in the nation s high school basketball history. Katte survived two brushes with death: a brain aneurysm that burst during neurosurgery performed by a close friend from his college days and a bout with cancer nine years later that required the removal of four feet in his small intestine. Katte turned aside numerous chances to coach on a larger stage, instead choosing his role as mathematics teacher, coach and mentor to young people as well as to remain very active in his church. This book is a unique blend of faith, biography and basketball as Katte explains in detail the philosophies and special strategies that have resulted in his 79% career winning percentage, among the highest in high school basketball history.

Dick Katte has coached 876 basketball victories including eight state championships, survived two life-threatening ill­nesses, all the while nurturing countless students through the rigors of advanced mathematics. He is the most accom­plished and acclaimed coach in Colorado sports history. The athletic center at Denver Christian High School where his teams play bears his name. Following his final year on the bench, Katte was named the MaxPreps (CBS Sports) National Coach of the Year. In 2005, Katte returned to his alma mater, Calvin College, to receive the school s Distinguished Alumni Award. Dick resides with his wife, Lorraine, in Denver, Colo. Mark Wolf was a columnist and feature writer for the Rocky Mountain News and a sports columnist and TV critic for the Charlotte Observer. He is currently Publications Editor at the National Conference of State Legislatures and an assistant basketball coach at Columbine High School. Mark resides with his wife, Cheryl, in Littleton, Colo.