Bill Springer led Southport to Hoosier Dome to face Damon Bailey, won more than 500 games as basketball coach

Indianapolis Star

14 hours ago

Bill Springer did not coach a high school basketball game after 1999 but still managed to make his way to games long after his retirement.
When Southport revived its program in the mid-2010s under then-coach Kyle Simpson, Springer rode the roller coaster of emotions like he was still on the bench — maybe even more. 'I don't give him any advice,' Springer said of Simpson in 2016. 'I just like to watch.'
Springer made his name as a basketball coach over a 40-year career, including 17 at Southport. But he was known first as a friend, a family man and a kind soul to those who knew him personally. Springer, an Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer, died on Saturday at age 90.
'His heart was bigger than he was, and his sayings/life lessons stuck with all of us,' Simpson shared. 'The six years I got to spend with him is something I'll never forget, whether it was talking Cardinals baseball in his living room, or him coming by practice to teach some players how to do a post drill. Probably the most important lesson he taught me was the importance of family. I witnessed a true testament to love and marriage when I saw him take care of his wife Carolyn, who had Alzheimer's disease. I also remember him telling me that all those coach of the year or awards he won were just hollow plaques, that it was the impact you made on your players that mattered most.'
Springer, a 1953 high school graduate of Indianapolis Washington, was an all-city selection as a senior at Washington before going on to be a three-year letterman at Hanover College. He won 539 games in his coaching career, starting out at tiny Linden in 1959 before moving on to Seeger for two years, Brazil for seven years, two years at Shortridge and three at Jennings County before he was hired at Bloomington South in 1975. He led the Panthers for seven seasons before taking the Southport job in 1982.
One of the highlights of Springer's tenure at Southport — and the school's history — was a final four appearance at Hoosier Dome in 1990. Playing in front of more than 41,000 fans, the Cardinals battled Damon Bailey and Bedford North Lawrence to a 58-55 loss in a game Southport led by 11 points at halftime. That team, led by William Moore and Marlon Fleming, remains the only Southport squad to win a semistate championship in program history.
He retired at the end of the 1990s, then was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame two years later.
For several years, Springer helped former Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame executive director Chris May identify teams for the annual Hall of Fame Classic. May learned a lot about basketball from Springer during the car rides around the state, but their talks inevitably turned to life and family 'and always invoked his memorable smile and laughter.'
'The lasting impact he had as a coach was admirable,' May shared. 'The network of former players and friends from coaching stops in Brazil, North Vernon, Bloomington and Southport was impressive. Most memorable for me of our countless trips was when he was given an impromptu acknowledgement at center court at Jennings County. One of his former players rushed down to talk to his coach he hadn't seen in 40 years. Another former player showed up at the game after his wife heard on the radio broadcast that coach Springer was in attendance.'
Springer lost his wife, Carolyn, on Jan. 1, 2019, after her lengthy battle with Alzheimer's. Springer and his wife, high school sweethearts at Washington, were married 63 years and raised five children: Tony, Mike, Debbie, Beth Ann and John.
Springer's coaching acumen was appreciated by his peers. Before the 1989-90 season, the Indianapolis News polled area coaches in five categories. Springer came up No. 1 for 'best game coach' and 'best X's and O's coach.' He ranked second for 'best motivator' and 'gets most from the least.'
'It's quite obvious that he hasn't played all those games and let them funnel through one ear and out the other,' then-Roncalli coach Chuck Weisenbach said at the time. 'Bill's teams always have something for every situation.'
Springer's son Mike is the coach at Winamac. In 2016, when Mike led Eastern (Greentown) to its first sectional title in 60 years, his father was in attendance.
'I would place that above any game I ever won as a coach,' Bill Springer said at the time. 'I was glad I could be there with him.'