Humboldt Sports History Today: Coach John Westphal

By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]

Humboldt, IA – In Humboldt High School basketball history there is no coach more decorated than John Westphal.

In 1967 Coach Westphal took the reins of the Humboldt boys’ basketball program and began a tenure that would last nearly three decades and set the foundation for the program. Brent Kuehnast who played for Coach Westphal in the mid-80s describes his former coach’s approach to the game as “all business.”

Kuehnast says he “demanded discipline” from the players. Preparation was very important to Coach Westphal as well who would make sure the players were always prepared for “all kinds of situations” that might occur during the course of a game.

The former player says he believes that all began with making sure the conditioning was there. “We did a lot of sprints at the beginning of the season and during the season so that when it came to the fourth quarter we were the best conditioned group of athletes out there on the floor.”

Coach Westphal was also very competitive according to Kuehnast. “We were competitive in practice but we were also very respectful of each other’s abilities as players.”

Selfish play and certain attitudes were not allowed by Coach John Westphal on the court. “We all trusted our teammates and I think we respected each other for everybody’s abilities.”

Scouting was an important element to the teams coached by John Westphal. Back when game film was not as obtainable scouting groups were put together to watch other teams and provide the notes for the players to study. Kuehnast says they always felt like they were the “best prepared team going into a game and if they executed correctly” they could win.

Offensively Coach Westphal brought a motion style offense with a lot of passing to Humboldt. Kuehnast described it as a “simple” scheme but it was run continuously to remove mistakes and loose ends. “He was a master at getting people open in the offense and coaching players how to identify the open shooter.”

Defensively Coach Westphal brought a hard-nosed man to man schemes to the Wildcats. He was also a firm believer in full court press on made baskets.

Coach John Westphal is Humboldt’s all-time winningest coach with 388 career wins while at Humboldt High School. He won 10 North Central Conference titles and nine district titles. His teams made the state tournament four times with the school’s best finish of third in his final season in 1995.

Coach Westphal coached for a total of 38 years, 10 at Albert City and 28 in Humboldt. His overall record was 522-252. He was inducted in the Iowa Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1996.

Featured photo courtesy of the Mason Lindhart Funeral Home.