In The Zone

If ever there was a high school basketball coach in Indiana who could do more with less, it was Speedway's Morris Pollard. Not that the Sparkplugs were devoid of talent during Pollard's 27 years as coach of the little school within the big city. Speedway actually produced an amazing run of players - most of them multi-sport stars - during Pollard's tenure. Tom Jones, Scott Neat, Dave Bennett and John Dunn all went on to play at Butler. Tom Gilbert went to Purdue. Bill O'Neal played at Notre Dame. Jerry Roberts went to the Air Force Academy. Tom Smith and Tommy Dunn attended Miami of Ohio. John Allen played at Ball State. Jim Eppen played at Rose-Hulman. O'Neal and and Gilbert were Indiana All-Stars. Jones, Roberts, Gilbert, Neat, Smith and Allen were Marion County Athletes of the Year. How did such a small school produce so many good players? "I just coached the hell out of them," Pollard says, laughing. "But the truth is, those kinds of players made you a good coach." Yet Speedway, under Pollard's tutelage from 1956-1983, was more than any individual. The Sparkplugs routinely overcame a lack of size and overall athleticism to defeat - or scare the beejeebers out of - opponents with superior talent. Part of it was an emphasis on ball movement that would produce good shots, and good shooters who would make those good shots. Part of it was fundamentals. Speedway rarely beat itself. But a major reason was at the defensive end. Pollard's first coaching job was at little Amo (now part of the Cascade district in Hendricks County) where the team he inherited was used to playing a 2-3 zone defense. "Well, the first thing I noticed in that zone was the weak spots on the wings," he said. "So I started moving players around and made some adjustments." He took that defense and those adjustments with him to Danville, where he coached two years, and then to Speedway. In a short time, the Spark Plugs became a frustratingly difficult team to play against because Pollard's zone allowed opponent few open shots on the perimeter and ever fewer opportunities around the basket. Indianapolis News sports columnist Corky Lamm took notice and labeled the defense "Pollard's matchup zone." And that matchup zone became Speedway's calling card for the rest of Pollard's career. When that career concluded, Pollard's teams had amassed an overall record of 425-275. Speedway won 11 Mid-State Conference championships, two Marion County tournaments, three sectionals and a regional. Pollard remained at Speedway as assistant principal until 1989. But even now, at age 85, he returns to the school almost weekly to serve as a substitute teacher. "I've been around kids that age all my life," he says. "I just so enjoy going over there, especially at lunchtime, where I can get with the coaches and start telling lies." He also has a monthly get-together with the surviving teammates from Jackson Township High School in Clinton County. In 1941, Pollard and his pals upset legendary coach Everett Case and the Frankfort Hot Dogs for the sectional championship. "That win is something will never forget," he says. Pollard lost his wife of 59 years, Bonnie, in 2004 and suffered a stroke not long thereafter. But he gets around well with the aid of therapy, a walking cane and says, overall, "I feel great." Appropriately, he has been immortalized. The Speedway High School gym is the "Morris Pollard Gymnasium." That, too, is a perfect matchup.