By his own admission, Barberton boys basketball coach Ken Rector has been living a dream for the last 20 years.
Dreams end. So, too, do coaching careers.
Rector, the longest tenured coach of any sport in school history, brought an end to his 20-year coaching career on Wednesday when he announced his retirement. It brings an end to a lifetime connection to the city and school district.
“For a guy like me, who grew up in Barberton, dreamed of becoming a Magic and eventually playing at Barberton, becoming the head coach of the basketball team was a dream come true,” Rector said. “What an amazing group of players I’ve had the chance to coach. I hope everyone realizes how seriously I treated the responsibility of being the head coach at Barberton.”
Rector’s teams compiled a record of 314-134 and won three Suburban League championships in seven seasons and five Western Reserve Conference South Division titles in nine years. His 2009 team was the regional runner-up and accounted for one of three district title squads. That same year he was chosen as the Beacon Journal’s Clem Caraboolad Award winner.
Regarded by many of his peers as one of the most respected and well-liked coaches in the area, he recently received the Bob Arnzen Award from the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association. In 2009 he was named as the Ohio Division I co-coach of the year by the Associated Press.
A three-time winner of the Summit County Touchdown Club coach of the year award, Rector was inducted into the Barberton Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
Rector, 50, began his career as an assistant at Stow High under veteran coach Dave Close. He moved to his alma mater in 1994 as an assistant under Roger Cramer before becoming head coach in 1996.
“Who gets to be that lucky?” Rector asked regarding his coaching education. “Dave and Roger were incredible influences on me. Great coaches, great people. I really feel I learned from two of the best.”
Rector — who earned seven letters in football, basketball and baseball during his high school playing career and went on to a basketball and football career at Mount Union — was a sophomore on Barberton’s state runner-up team under legendary Jack Greynolds in 1982.
Rector and his wife, Brenda, are the parents of Erika (21) and Austin (19). Erika is a senior track standout at Malone and Austin will be a freshman at Ohio State in the fall.
“I can’t begin to explain the sacrifices my family has made to allow me to be called ‘coach,’ ” Rector said. “My wife is an incredible woman, the true hall of famer in our family. I hope I now have the time to give back to them. I am looking forward to watching Erika’s senior year at Malone and attend some games at OSU, where Austin will be involved with the basketball program.”
Rector’s connection to Barberton High School will not automatically end with his retirement. Immediate plans call for him to remain as a business teacher but he also has had his principal’s certification since 1998. He said he leaves the basketball program fully satisfied.
More than 100 player pictures adorn the walls of Rector’s office and the basketball locker room.
“Those kids will probably never realize how much they mean to me,” he said. “Being a head coach is an all-consuming job. It is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It never leaves your thoughts.
“I have given everything I have to coaching the Magics. After 20 unbelievable years, I’ve just got nothing left to give. It has been an incredible honor.”
Read the high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps.