“A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are.” – Ara Parseghian
I was 14 years old in the summer of 1989 when I first experienced Coach Jerry Petitgoue.
I had been waiting for what felt like forever to be invited by the varsity coach at Lena-Winslow High School to join the high school team camp at the famed Tri-State Basketball Camps. I had just come off a great week at the University of Notre Dame, where Digger Phelps awarded me the Best Camper trophy. I was floating on cloud nine. I was finally playing high school basketball, I had just been recognized by one of the great coaches in college basketball, and now I was part of my soon-to-be high school team’s camp…even if it was the Junior Varsity camp.
This was my time.
It was the late ’80s, so there was no air conditioning in the gym, as well as none to be found in the dorm rooms at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where the camp was held in those days. I don’t think the temperature dropped below 90 degrees, even in the dead of night. To say the least, it was hot, and playing two games per session, three sessions per day (six games a day), with practices and drills in between, was more than most could handle—including me.
Everyone in our area knew who Coach Petitgoue was. He was the guy. The best high school coach in the Tri-State area—no question. Coaches from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa registered their teams each summer just for a shot to spend time with him. They’d hang out in the dorm lobby after the night games to listen to him tell stories all while hoping to get a chance to coach against him the next day. Most, who got that chance, left with their tails between their legs—but they came back every year.
I came into that first camp cocky.
The upperclassmen had told stories about how the camp coaches picked All-Stars at the end of the week, and I was sure I was going to be one of them. I had just been honored at a high school camp at one of the top college programs in the country. This would be a piece of cake.
I quickly found out that high school team ball was very different from an individual camp at a college. The strong, physical Midwest farm boys at Tri-State, coached by seasoned and highly motivated high school coaches, were tougher, stronger, and in far better shape than me. It was one of the first big tests of my character. They wiped the floor with me. I wasn’t named an All-Star—and I’m pretty sure I was the worst point guard there.
But I remember Coach Petitgoue’s talks at the end of each night.
All 200 of us campers would sit at one end of the court under the basket while Coach stood at top of the key. He’d recap the day, walk us through the next day’s agenda, and give us one last drill to consider to get better or maybe some words of advice about being good men. With a gravelly voice shaped by decades of coaching and hollering, he was direct, stern, and somehow gentle all at the same time. He was born to be in front of us. Teaching the game, mentoring young men, helping shape who we were becoming—it wasn’t just his job. It was his calling.
I didn’t understand it at the time, but something in me started to shift. Coaching was already beginning to whisper in my ear, and I had one of the greatest coaching mentors in the world standing in front of me.
I couldn’t help but be inspired.
I returned to Tri-State year after year—first as a player, then as a coach—for most of the next 15 years. I was a bit of a puppy dog in those early years, eager to learn everything he was willing to share.
When I applied for my first college head coaching job in the spring of 2001, I later learned that Coach Petitgoue had personally called the athletic director and said, “You’d be stupid not to hire this guy.” (He would go on to do that for me a few more times in the years to come.) I was just 26 years old with one year of experience as a head high school coach. I got that job—and I’m confident it was because of Coach.
Over the years, I had some really tough seasons and some really great ones. But my record never mattered to him. He built me up every time I called, even if we hadn’t spoken in years. He was always in my corner. He always believed in me. He was always a friend.
When I finished my first book in the summer of 2023, I knew I needed someone with gravitas in the coaching world to write the foreword. Someone whose name would give my writing credibility. I had one name on my list.
When I asked him to read the book and if he’d be open to writing a little something for the beginning, he responded in his modest, humble way:
“Matt, my friend, I’ve never written a foreword to a book, but you tell me what you need, and I’ll get it done.”
A couple of weeks later, I received the email (with help from Joan!), and my book was complete—with a foreword from the winningest coach in Wisconsin high school history and the 2020 National High School Basketball Coach of the Year.
Coach Jerry Petitgoue passed away on June 7, 2025, at the age of 84. He leaves behind an incredible legacy: his wonderful wife Joan of 58 years, three children, six grandchildren, and the thousands of young men and women he impacted through the classroom and the basketball court over 60 years.
I’m so grateful I got to be a small part of his life for 37 of those years. I’d do anything to have one more night in that hot dorm lobby, sitting on the floor, listening to him tell another story.
Coach Petitgoue—thank you.
Even though I never had the honor of playing on one of your great teams, you will always be My Coach. I hope the angels are lacing up their sneakers, because they’re in for a treat.
To learn more about my journey, explore my writing, and find resources for coaching and recruiting, visit coachmattrogers.com.
