Legendary Maine boys’ high school basketball coach IJ (Irvin James) Pinkham, of East Boothbay, completed his 40th season last week, bringing his career win total to 524. He has averaged just over 13 wins a season.
Pinkham has spent 35 of the past 40 years coaching the Seahawks of Boothbay Region High School. He is one of only three Maine high school boys’ coaches to reach the 500 win milestone. Roger Reed of Bangor and Odie Alley of Jonesport Beal have also reached the 500 win milestone.
Basketball has been in Pinkham’s veins since early childhood. “As a kid I used to play basketball all the time, either in the barn or outside. He played for Milbridge High School. “It’s no longer there,” Pinkham said of his alma mater.
He then played four years at the University of Maine Farmington where he got his teaching degree.
It was at UMF, where Pinkham met coach Len MacPhee, who molded Pinkham’s coaching style and philosophy.
“It was the way he did it,” Pinkham said of MacPhee. “He was not a yeller and a screamer. He was very knowledgeable, he was always prepared, he never swore and he made it interesting. I was not a starter, so I had a lot of time on the bench. I got to watch him for four seasons and studied how he coached.”
After college, Pinkham took a teaching job at Buckfield. The varsity boys’ basketball position opened up the second year he was there and Pinkham jumped at the chance to launch his coaching career. “We were 9-9 that first year and just missed the playoffs,” he said.
Pinkham has not missed the playoffs often in his 40-year coaching career.
Five years later he was teaching math in Boothbay and coaching the Seahawks. In 35 years at Boothbay, Pinkham has only had three losing seasons, and his teams have made the playoffs every year since 1992. Pinkham led Boothbay to a State Class C title in 2001, and Regional titles four times, in 1979, 2000, 2001 and 2007.
A lot of high school teams have rebuilding years from time to time, but the Pinkham-led Seahawks seem to just reload year after year, and are a perennial contender in the Mt.Valley Conference. Boothbay went 15-3 in the MVC this past season and beat Dirigo for the MVC championship. They were West Class C runner-ups, losing to Dirigo in the Regional title game.
“Consistency is definitely the key to a successful program,” the veteran coach said. Pinkham runs his own summer program every year. “I start working with them in fourth grade. I have JV coaches who have been with me for a while and they are doing things the same way. Kids know what is expected from the get go. You build a solid long term program that way.
“I never coach just for one year. I’m always thinking about the next year and the year after that. I think it’s important for (younger kids) to practice with me. They learn the system and the expectations. The JV coaches do exactly the same (as I). It helps in the long term. The JV use the same offense and defense and the same out of bound plays. It’s all part of building a solid program.”
Over the years, Pinkham has settled into a consistent coaching style, that has earned him the respect of players, fans, parents and opposing coaches. “My style is a little more low key now. I’m not as excitable anymore,” Pinkham said of his quiet disposition on the court.
When asked how he motivates his teams year in and year out, Pinkham responded “It’s not hard to motivate them to play. They want to play basketball. It’s hard to get them to play defense.”
“Kids this year were the exception,” he said. “They really bought into what we were doing defensively. Dan Dickinson plays full speed all the time. That’s how he is. The rest tried to match his intensity.”
“We practice at full speed. We keep it going. They get the idea that’s how you want them to play. When they start playing that way they get more playing time. Playing time is a big motivational factor. I think they know I like being with them and that I like coaching basketball, and that I enjoy being with them. I think that helps motivate them,” Pinkham said.
In his 40-year coaching career, Pinkham has never been ejected from a game, and has only been slapped with “five or six” technical fouls. He is always composed and seldom ruffled. “It doesn’t do much good,” he said. “I’ve never seen a referee change his mind yet.”
“Boothbay has been very supportive of me. We have good crowds at our games and the community and parents are very supportive. That makes it a whole lot easier. Not everyone agrees with what I do, but they seem to put up with it,” Pinkham said.
“Another thing is I have a wife that has been very supportive,” Pinkham said of his wife Peggy. “She comes to every home game.”
Coaching the 2010-11 season was a big question mark for Pinkham. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in late summer and underwent radiation treatment in August and September. He took the month of October off and underwent chemotherapy treatments in November and December at the start of the basketball season. “It’s been an interesting fall,” he said. “The doctor said I was healthy. I did take two months off in September and October, then I went back, and coached basketball.”
When asked how many more years he was going to coach, Pinkham responded, “I’m going to do it for awhile, as long as I’m healthy. It’s is the only way I compete now. I don’t play golf or tennis. Coaching is the way I compete.”
