With 22 seconds left in the game, Tim Whipple grabbed his suit jacket from behind his chair, put it on and started walking toward center court.
The longtime Irmo High School boys basketball coach shook hands with Wilson coach Carlos Powell as the buzzer sounded, ending the worst season of Whipple’s 43-year coaching career.
Wilson, one of the top teams in the South Carolina, defeated Irmo, 53-42, Wednesday in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
The Yellow Jackets, who made the playoffs with an at-large berth, finished the year with a 5-21 record. The season comes a year after Irmo defeated Lancaster to win the state championship.
The title was Whipple’s sixth of his career, and he’s led the Yellow Jackets to five other title games. He is one of two S.C. high school boys basketball coaches with more than 800 wins in his career.
Whipple has 848 victories, trailing only former Great Falls coach John Smith’s 943.
Whipple must now decide if he wants to add to that total and come back for another season.
He was one of the last people to leave Tiger gymnasium Wednesday, walking out with his daughter and football coach Aaron Brand, whose son AJ is a starting guard for the Yellow Jackets and one of the few returnees from last year’s championship team.
“I don’t know,” Whipple said about returning for his 44th season. “Every year for the last four or five years, we usually sit back about spring break time, have meetings with administrators and decide what the future holds. That will probably be the same scenario we do this year.
“It is not something that I have given a whole lot of thought at this point and time. We have tried to focus on making this team better and getting the most out of them. That is one of the ways I have measured my career as a coach. I feel like in my whole coaching career, the whole has been better than the parts. It is a goal I always have.”
Whipple felt he got as much as he could with this year’s group, but it just didn’t result in the winning the program is used to in his more than four decades at the school.
There wasn’t much experience returning with this year’s team with the graduation of Class 4A Player of Year Brandon Crawford and the transfers of Madden and Mason Collins to Christ School in North Carolina.
Irmo had just one senior on the roster, and Brand, Matthew Hopkins and Joey Albritton were the only ones who contributed from last year’s team. The lack of experience and proven scorers were evident at times as the Yellow Jackets averaged just 47.2 points a game this season.
But Whipple’s players’ effort didn’t stop, even against Wilson, one of the favorites to win the Class 4A championship. They continued to scrap and press, testing the Tigers in the second half but never could get it back in striking distance.
“They continued to work every day and do the best they possibly can,” Whipple said. “I was hoping the hard work would show in our play before the year was over and it never really did. I’m proud of them, and they did everything they could. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.”
Whether Whipple returns or not next season, his place as one of the state’s best coaches already is secured. He has won a state championship in four different decades, and Irmo’s six titles rank in the top 15 in state history for the program.
More than 40 of Whipple’s players have gone on to play college basketball.
Powell, the former University of South Carolina standout, reflected on Whipple’s impact on the game and how prepared his team was even when the talent gap between the Tigers and Yellow Jackets was evident.
Powell was a player at Wilson more than 20 years ago and remembers Whipple from that era. So facing him as a coach was a different experience.
“It is kind of weird and yet pretty awesome,” Powell said. “For him to impact that many lives over time and still win. He changed so many kids’ lives.”
Wednesday
Class 5A Boys
Upper State
Mauldin 63, Spring Valley 55
River Bluff 71, Gaffney 68
G: Littlejohn 9, Markell Hollis 24, Bailey 2, Kaleb Phillips 17, Shed Surratt 11. RB: Etheridge 5, Dax Avery 11, Yasir Cromer 31, Alex Robbins 10, Chapman 6, WIlson 8.
Blythewood 95, JL Mann 48
B: Will Olden 25, Tyler Stephens 12, TJ Lewis 11, Austin Coker 10JLM: Dontez Walker 17
Dorman 53, White Knoll 38
Lower State
Lexington 64, Goose Creek 38
GC: L: Cam Scott 31, Jaxon Prunty 21, Evans 7, Burgess 2, Byrd 3.
Cane Bay 53, Chaoin 39
Summerville 78, Dutch Fork 63
DF: Bryson Taylor 20, Jayden Walker 15, Govan 8, Gardner 6, Bogan 4, Poore 3, Stagg 3, Sessions 2, Bell 2.
Class 4A Boys
Lower State
Wilson 53, Irmo 42
I: Brand 9, Murph 8, Anderson 2, Pierce 1, Hopkins 9, Henderson 2, McLaughlin 1, Dollison 2, Albritton 7. W: Tristan Thompson 16, Josh Leonard 12, Boston 8, Small 4, Smith 4, Douglas 2.
AC Flora 63, Colleton County 49
ACF: Cooper Wiley 13, Ry’Neek Maxwell-Timms 12, Gray 3, Willard 4, Johnson 7, Conner Wiley 10, Spencer West 12, Smith 2.
Ridge View 73, Easley 42
RV: Yale Davis 17, Jayden Pretty 15, Malachi Cooper 12, Staley 9, Corbett 5, Wylie 4, Mack 3, J. Smith 3, Z. Smith 2, Horton 2.
Westwood 65, Northwestern 52
W: Tavaris Bell 19, Larry Brown 12, Balkman 9
Richland Northeast 58, Myrtle Beach 48
RNE: David Wine 17, Will Wilson 13, Scriven 8, Manuel 8, Grier 3, Haliburton 5, Pickett 2.
Class A Boys
Upper State
CA Johnson 91, Ware Shoals 68
CAJ: Anthony Brooks 19, Milton McCray 16, Lamont Jackson 15, Caleb Pearson 13, Zion Lakin 11, Grimes 6, Slater 5, Guess 3, Grimes 2, Wise 1
Class 3A Girls
Lower State
Crestwood 67, Gilbert 42
Lower Richland 68, Lakewood 23
L: Cisse 9, Hodge 10, Boatwright 1, Shaw 1. LR: Chi’Nya Isaac 13, Taniya Isaac 12, Jhnai Sumter 16, Dingle 1, Green 8, Shiver 1, Foster 9, Curry 2, Hiller 6.
Camden 83, Swansea 19
C: Joyce Edwards 32, Harmony Jefferson 13, Zyasia Carter 11, Braylin Mungo 11, Champion 8, Jeffcoat 3, Dais 2, Wright 2.
Class 2A Girls
Upper State
Landrum 77, Newberry 21
Fairfield Central 54, Strom Thurmond 42
Saluda 44, Batesburg-Leesville 18
Keenan 83, Liberty 17
K: Harmon 1, Taelor Lee Sutton 14, Mines 6, Kristin Brown 22, Benson 2, Aareonna Caughman 13, Owens 8, Robinson 4, J. Fulwiley 7. L: Pace 3, Garrett 2, Swafford 1, White 8, Hoper 2.
Silver Bluff 43, Eau Claire 31
Gray Collegiate 68, Chesnee 14
GC: Diamond Tatum 18, Jordan Mintz 16, Kadence Walker Lee 15, Salaam 9, Mayers 7.
Mid-Carolina 61, Fox Creek 35
MC: Brooks 3, Br. Brooks 6, Brea Boyd 23, Bowers 9, Shepherd 3, Callie Wilbanks 10, Brown 2, Wadsworth 4
Friday
Class 3A Boys
Lower State
Philip Simmons at Lower Richland, 6 p.m.
Class 2A Boys
Upper State
Keenan at Newberry, 7 p.m.
Abbeville at Gray Collegiate, 7 p.m.
Class 5A Girls
Upper State
Spring Valley at Gaffney, 7 p.m.
Lower State
Summerville at Dutch Fork, 6 p.m.
Class 4A Girls
Lower State
Lucy Beckham at AC Flora, 6 p.m.
Hartsville at Ridge View, 6:30 p.m.
Class A Girls
Upper State
CA Johnson at Denmark-Olar
Saturday
Class 5A Boys
Upper State
River Bluff at Mauldin, 7 p.m.
Dorman at Blythewood, 6 p.m.
Lower State
West Ashley at Lexington, 7 p.m.
Class 4A Boys
Lower State
AC Flora at Wilson, 4 p.m.
Lucy Beckham at Ridge View, 6 p.m.
South Florence at Westwood, 4 p.m.
Richland Northeast at James Island, 4 p.m.
Class A Boys
Upper State
High Point Academy at CA Johnson, 3 p.m.
Class 3A Girls
Lower State
Hanahan at Lower Richland
Waccamaw at Camden, 1 p..m.
Class 2A Girls
Upper State
Fairfield Central at Landrum
Keenan at Saluda, 3 p.m.
Mid-Carolina at Gray Collegiate, 2 p.m.
Class 4A
Saturday
Ben Lippen vs. First Baptist at Cathedral, 5:30 p.m.
Heathwood Hall vs. Laurence Manning at Sumter Civic Center, 1:30 p.m.
Monday
Cardinal Newman vs. Trinity Collegiate/Pinewood Prep winner
Hammond vs. Ben Lippen/First Baptist winner
Porter-Gaud vs. Heathwood Hall/Laurence Manning winner
Class 3A
Saturday
Carolina Academy vs. Northside Christian at Wilson Hall, 4:30 p.m.
Class A
Saturday
Holly Hill vs. Richard Winn at Wilson Hall, 2 p.m.
Jefferson Davis vs. Newberry Academy at Ben Lippen, 2:30 p.m.
Class 4A
Friday
Ben Lippen vs. First Baptist at Cathedral Academy, 6:30 p.m.
Wilson Hall vs. Cardinal Newman at Sumter Civic Center, 8 p.m.
Monday
Heathwood Hall vs. Laurence Manning/Porter-Gaud winner
Trinity Collegiate vs. Ben Lippen/First Baptist winner
Northwood Academy vs. Wilson Hall/Cardinal Newman winner
Hammond vs. Augusta Christian/Pinewood Prep winner
Class 3A
Friday
Northside Christian vs. Christian Academy at Wilson Hall, 5:30 p.m.
Class A
Friday
Richard Winn vs. Curtis Baptist at Ben Lippen, 5 p.m.
This story was originally published February 14, 2024, 10:22 PM.
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Lou Bezjak is the High School Sports Prep Coordinator for The (Columbia) State and (Hilton Head) Island Packet. He previously worked at the Florence Morning News and had covered high school sports in South Carolina since 2002. Lou is a two-time South Carolina Sports Writer of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
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