Lees McRae College - Ontaroga Yearbook (Banner Elk, NC)

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'Xover the yearsj we've tried to have fun out there, win or lose, and that's what it's all about. fl know l've loved coaching over the years and l've learnedj to build up their egos . . . give incentive to win . . . instill pride . . . motivate them. - Hostetter I w I r W7 Hostetter gets involved every game . . . planning his strat- egy, then instructing what offenses and defenses to run . . . shouting encouragement . . . applauding his players' suc- cesses . . . accepting their errors . . . and in practice as in the contest, totally immersed in ucoachingf' You don't berate players and expect them to perform for youf' v ' wx' W- .: s K Q n . ai 4. .ff Q E' S l.m,,,mNLNN 'Y' X3 fi ' 3 , - r. g M- ,ami V , ,... A ' ' 4-f 'N 1 my 1'ii iw V , Q if i -itt ,. s tsss r ,, . .krb K Ik. it I K: K yn f Q e,.k L. sf. K 4+5:,.+ ,Li ityfgj I J.. X nk t rf-. . K I K K 'MQ 100 Basketball lt' ,OQQQOQ 4 5 A li O I I 0 xx A ,L 7' O

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STEPS DOWN Hostetter accomplished his goals by constantly switching defenses from man-to-man to zone, or from one zone to an- other. Closeness obviously counts, stated Hostetter. The Bobcats won nine games that were decided by four points or less this season. l think it adds up to a total of 23 points in nine victories. Our ability to win the close ones, of course, has been the major thing Qthroughout the yearsjf' Hostetter was labeled by a basketball magazine as one of the outstanding recruiting gurus in the college ranks. He has turned out several outstanding Division I players at Lees-McRae and had three All-Americans under his tute- lage. With Hostetter's removal from the basketball scene at Lees-McRae and in the Western Carolinas Junior College Conference and Region Ten, the curtain comes down on another era at the tradi- tionally strong basketball school. John Mackorell had a .628 winning percent- age in the late 1930's and early '40's, and in the late'60's George Litton, in two years, directed the Bobcats to 51 wins and 29 losses for a .605 record and one conference championship. Jack Lytton, in three years, directed Lees-McRae to 59 wins and 36 losses for a .604 winning percentage and one championship. Both George Litton and Jack Lytton brought their teams to the finals of the region championships and Dickerson made eight playoffs without success. Hostetter's teams were in the regional -4 -sr . fy 1 i . 'Q' . l ey . 3 ' X finals twice, but came away the losers. No team at Lees-McRae has ever won the regional championship and gone to the nationals, so there are records wait- ing to be broken by newcomer Keith Walker. Walker had successful high school coaching positions at Stecoah High School Ckobbinsvillej, Mountain Heri- tage fBurnsvilleJ, Erwin QAshevilleD, and Lexington, South Carolina, and took a faltering women's program at Lees- McRae and turned it around in one year. The man who beat the clock this year, in more ways than one, retired and brought the curtain down on his career at Lees-McRae by being named Coach of the Year in the WCJCC. Hostetter turns the reins over to Keith Walker who will capably bring a new and fresh ap- proach to the Bobcat Basketball pro- gram. Walker has big shoes to fill. The Sul- tan of Slowdown has stepped down. Hostetter never tried to fill the shoes of any of the coaching greats at Lees- McRae. He has simply placed his shoes alongside them. Walker will make his own footsteps felt at Lees-McRae and around the league. The Bobcat basketball program is in good hands, Hostetter concluded. When it comes to basketball, the Sul- tan has seldom been wrong. The game of basketball will sorely miss this titan of the hardwood. Basketball 99 1

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When a pressure-laden game goes down to the wire, or the game is won on a last-second shot, many people at- tribute a come-from-behind victory or those last second heroics to 'luckf' Others dispel the outcome by simply saying it's 'destiny' or 'talent.' But any student of basketball knows that in the final analysis 'coaching' pays off. 'Coaching' wins the close ones. While emphasis is placed on talent, the major ingredient 'Many have been given the opportunity to coach in this life . . . few have been gifted enough to enrich others' lives and reap the benefits of this talent. Carlisle Hostetter is one of those gifted few, and athletes at Lees-McRae are better for itf' - Don Baker in any successful program is coaching. When the game goes down to the wire the players who are well-coached do not become 'rattled.' They do not become disorganized. They have a plan and with methodical ingenuity that plan is set into motion by the coach and the players, well- trained and disciplined in the art of offense and defense, produce. Many coaches attribute a close loss or a losing season to 'player attitudes' or 'lack of talent' or 'lack of desire and pride' on the team's part. They evade the fact that games are won and lost for the most part because the team and the individual players were not prepared. The coach was simply 'out-coached.' Instead of using motivation they flosing coaches! use alibis. It's refreshing to see a coach admit he didn't have his team prepared, and the other team and coach turned in a better peformance. Hostetter never alibis. Of course, he seldom loses. Hostetter 's team slipped past Brevard, 55-543 edged Co- Stewart Lanier drives off screen by Barry Mayo, fx. lumbia, 66-633 came from behind as the buzzer sounded to defeat Spartanburg Methodist, 55-54: defeated Brevard again on the Tornadoes' home court in a come-from-be- hind win, 65-60, after being down nine pointsg escaped USC-Lancaster's home court advantage, 60-57: edged North Greenville, 63-62, with :17 seconds left in the game: and defeated Spartanburg Methodist, 69-67, on the Pio- neers' home court for the first time in ten years. Hostetter wears the distinctive label 'coach' with pride and lives up to the definition of that profession. Hostetter's label of coach is more than a title. He wears the label well and warrants the respect of his peers and colleagues. He 'commands' respect - not 'demands' respect - of his players, and he is genuinely the epitome of the word 'coachf' Basketball 101