ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 1, 1996 TAG: 9611010003
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
WHEN DENNIS LAYMAN steps down as the Glenvar girls' basketball coach, he'll leave a legacy of winning.
A part of Dennis Layman's basketball life is dribbling to an end, and he seems intrigued by something with a much slower pace.
That would be watching grass grow, in autumn.
``I'll be able to see if the grass is up to my knees when I come home in the fall, and I'll even be able to cut it,'' said Layman, in his 16th season as the head girls' basketball coach at Glenvar High. ``It will still be daylight.''
Layman is one of the more prominent boys' basketball officials in this part of the state, but at Glenvar, he's been the only girls' basketball coach since the western Roanoke County school returned from junior high status in the early '80s. That won't be part of his job description much longer.
Layman, 45, is retiring from basketball coaching, and he's definitely leaving on Layman's terms. He still will teach physical education and be an assistant softball coach, ``if they'll keep me,'' he said, laughing.
As district tournament play begins next week, Layman has 296 victories as the Highlanders' hoops coach. He'll go for No.297 at 7 p.m. on Monday at Auburn High School when Glenvar faces Floyd County in a one-game playoff for the Three Rivers District regular-season title.
Layman only seems like he's a chip off the school's cornerstone.
He was part of Glenvar High School's first graduating class, in 1969. He left long enough to get his degree at East Tennessee State, then returned to the school as a teacher and coach. Layman's wife, Cathy, is a Glenvar grad, too. He first worked with boys' basketball as an assistant, then was asked to move to the girls' game during the few years Glenvar was a junior high.
``He's a good coach because he pushes us hard,`` said Layman's daughter, Amy, one of five seniors on a team in its first year in the Three Rivers District. ``He's good because he takes time to explain things. He tells us what we did wrong and how we can do it differently. He tells us when we've done well, too.''
Amy - also a pitcher headed for the fledgling softball program at Roanoke College, her mom's alma mater - didn't have to explain why Layman is a good father. The main reason he's leaving the sideline says that. He coached Amy through her high school years. Her younger sister, Sara, will be a Glenvar freshman next year, but she isn't a basketball player.
``Sara likes softball, golf and she's into band and more artsy things,'' said the father-coach. ``Whatever she's in is where I want to be, like I've been for Amy. It's worked out well this way. When I got into this, deep down I knew it wouldn't be for the long haul. I never looked at myself as a lifer.
``There are lots of things you postpone when you're a coach. At home, if it's broke during the season, it will stay broke. Now, I'm going to have time to fix some things.''
Layman told his team at the start of this season that this was likely his final year. He also told Glenvar principal Al McClearn, who has since told Layman more than a few times that it isn't too late to change his mind.
``Dennis does a great job,'' McClearn said. ``I've kind of left the door open, but I can understand how he feels. I've always felt like coaching was pretty much a young man's game. He's not only brought a lot of success to the school, but he brings a lot of spirit. He has a great wit. He's an enjoyable person.''
Layman said that he doesn't intend to become emotional after his last game, but his Irish eyes could decide differently.
``Deep down inside I say I'm not going to miss it, but I'm sure when it comes around next year, it will be really tough,'' Layman said. ``I've been emotional with teams before, usually when we've fallen just short, by a last shot or whatever. Still, in those cases, I knew I was coming back. Some of the girls weren't. I felt bad for them. This time, I won't be coming back, either.''
Layman guided Glenvar to 12 regular-season district titles and nine tournament championships in the past 12 years, in the Pioneer District. This season, the school moved to the Three Rivers. Since Layman became Glenvar's coach in 1982, the Highlanders have played in the state tournament four times, and were the 1988 state runner-up, losing to Clintwood in the final minute.
``I never got in it for the wins,'' Layman said when asked about approaching 300 victories. ``Certainly, the W's are fun, but that's not what coaching is all about. We've had good kids who worked hard, and I've tried to keep it simple and not overcomplicate the game. And I think it's helped that I seem to understand kids.''
That's no small feat in a career in which he's taught players who have been listening to everything from the Beach Boys to the Goo Goo Dolls. Layman admits that he's a little more low-key on the sideline than he once was, too.
Perhaps that's because he sees the game differently than some of his peers. Each winter, he officiates about 50 boys' high school and Old Dominion Athletic Conference women's games. He has worked the state tournament several times.
``Officiating allowed me to be part of a different part of the game,'' Layman said. ``And it's a different perspective. When I go from coaching to officiating, I really do have to sort of realign my vision, and it takes a few times out to adjust. As a coach, you want to catch the whole play. As an official, you only want to see part of the play, the part that's in my zone or area of the floor.
``I understand how tough that job [officiating] is, and I try not to be too critical. I also am very careful that my reputation is above board. You can't put yourself in a position where people might say that I've made a call to get back at somebody, because of something that happened to one of my teams.''
There's no doubt in Layman's mind what's changed the most in his nearly two decades of teaching girls' hoops. It's the players and their understanding of the game. Layman's history includes an incident during his junior-high sideline days that shows how far the sport has bounced.
``We were playing Hidden Valley,'' Layman said, ``and they had the ball and a one-point lead and it's a timeout. I told our players we needed to go for the steal and if we couldn't get it, to foul immediately. Twelve seconds left on the clock.
``So, Hidden Valley inbounds the ball, we don't get the steal, and they go from here, to there, to there,'' Layman said, using a table as a miniature court. ``The horn sounds. Game over. We lose. I go up to the girl who was playing defense on the one who ran out the clock.
```You were supposed to foul. Why didn't you?' I asked her.
``She looked up at me and said, `But, Coach, I already had one.'''
He can laugh about it now.
LENGTH: Long : 118 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN STAFF Coach Dennis Layman has helped aby CNBlot of girls improve their basketball skills, including his daughter
Amy.