'We were his family'

For the past 41 years, Don Petranovich has uttered the same words as he stepped on the basketball court at Winslow High School.

"I don't say we want to win every game this season or we want to win a regional championship," Petranovich said. "What I say, the first thing out of my mouth every year is we want to win a state championship."

The drive, passion and dedication behind the 69-year-old's words and are exactly why he is the winningest coach in Arizona history, has won seven state championship titles since 1989, was named national coach of the year by the National Federation of State High School Associations, and the high school's gymnasium named after him.

Petranovich has spent many summers preparing his team for upcoming seasons. He has spent countless evenings dropping everything he's doing to open the gym for players and made sure his players were always taken care of.

That's just the kind of coach he is, but, more importantly, it's the kind of man he is.

Petranovich went to school at Winslow then attended Northern Arizona University. After graduating he moved back to the Winslow has lived there since. He started coaching and teaching in 1969.

He's contemplated retirement many times but finally feels that this is the year.

"It's done. The school board has accepted my resignation two or three weeks ago. I will not be coming back as coach here," he said. "I think it's time for somebody younger than me to take the reins. I still feel that I could be successful but it's just time for me to move on time to enjoy life a little bit more."

The legendary coach has touched the lives of many athletes, fans and the community.

"I don't know how many years of summer have been taking up by coaching the girls," he said. "I just feel like I'm not ready to do that anymore. I want my summers, I want to do things."

Jackie Shirley, a 1989 Winslow graduate and a former player, said she remembers how summers were spent with Petranovich and his family.

"His family - Mike, Eric, past wife Clay - they were exactly like family to us," Shirley said. "They took family vacation with us, they went to San Diego with us.

"During those times Petro could have taken time out of basketball but he didn't," she said. "We took a lot of his family time and we were his family, and I think not too many people know that from him, if he can help in some way, he will help."

Shirley went on to play college basketball and her two oldest children have continued the family tradition. Her daughter Paige and Kourtney started on the varsity and her son Kraig is making a name for himself.

Shirley said many stories about Petranovich show how dedicated he is to the sport and the athletes.

"I think after all these years now I've realized this man has dedicated his entire life to these kids," she said. "The biggest thing as a person is when you want to be successful in something you've got to dedicate your life to it. You can't commit halfway."

Petranovich said his father raised him with the concept of dedication.

"As a coach that's part of your job, you've got to show the kids how dedicated and how much you love the game," he said. "I think I've been able to do that over the years."

He is also known for being strict.

Theresa Peterson, a coach and teacher at Dilcon Community School, played under Petranovich from 1988 to 1992.

Her senior year, Peterson said the team was undefeated but lost to Window Rock in the championship game.

"He was pretty tough on us as far as having to know different plays and being conditioned, having that type of discipline," she said. 'I always felt that if you were coached by him, you should be able to play for just about anybody.

"No coach really cares about you if they didn't yell at you and ride you a lot," she said.

Petranovich said he knows what he's working with and raises the bar based on the talent of the team.

"I get involved in it and I expect them to play at a certain level," he said. "My philosophy of coaching was play your best, play hard, and things will take their course."

Things have taken their course for 41 years since Petranovich first stepped on the Winslow basketball court.

Back to top ^