Coach Retires After 25 Seasons Citing Difficulty Dealing With Losses

After 25 years pacing the sidelines, losses began to become too intolerable for Springfield basketball coach Tim Reiser.

Reiser, 49, a former University of Toledo player, made the difficult decision to retire this month.

Reiser said he got choked up Tuesday when he informed his players.

"I've had a basketball in my life since the fifth grade," Reiser said. "It was hard, but I knew this day was coming. I feel good about it.

"Recently the wins weren't as nice and the losses ate me up. That was really bugging me. I was taking the losses too personally. I just felt that I put in 25 years and was able to coach some great kids and I worked with some great assistant coaches. I felt it was time to let someone come and take things over."

Reiser, who finished with a 258-205 record, led Springfield to its first sectional title in 29 years this past season.

"We had a good year and 25 years was a nice number," Reiser said. "I was able to end it with a nice group of seniors. We won a sectional title and made some noise in the league."

The Blue Devils were 16-7 and finished third in the Northern Lakes League with a 9-5 record.

Reiser guided Springfield to three NLL championships (1989-90, 1990-91, 1996-97).

He was a standout player at Napoleon and was named the Ohio Class AA player of the year as a senior in 1980 when he averaged 26 points per game. He led the Wildcats to the regional final two straight years.

In his four years as the Rockets' point guard (1980-84), UT went 71-43. Reiser still holds UT record for career assists (762), and his 3,941 career minutes ranks second all time. In the 1980-81 season, Reiser was named the Mid-American Conference freshman of the year when he led the Rockets to a share of the title. Reiser finished with 1,216 points and then went on to play one season of professional basketball in Europe.

He took over the Springfield program in 1986 and became a guidance counselor that year. He will continue in that position.

In 1999, Reiser was inducted into University of Toledo's Varsity T Hall of Fame.

"I can't pick out a favorite team," Reiser said. "Every team was unique. Even though we did not have great records sometimes over the years, the kids always were respectful and worked their butts off."

He said he's interested in working in radio or TV.

"It was a great ride," Reiser said.