There was a time, before anyone currently a student at Bridgeport High School was born and even well before that, when Pete Iquinto wasn’t known as one of the most successful baseball coaches that ever graced a diamond in Harrison County history. There was a time when Iquinto didn’t have on a uniform and cleats in his coaching profession

 

You have to rewind; at least back to the early 1980s. It was a time when a guy named Andy Sorine was playing basketball at Lincoln High School. It was a time when current BHS Principal Mark DeFazio was the Cougars’ basketball coach and Iquinto was still tinkering as a coach in roundball.

 

And it was a time when Pete Iquinto was arguably the sharpest dressed man in the high school coaching ranks – locally or statewide and likely at any type of sport.

 

“There’s no question about it,” said Iquinto when asked if he was a fashion plate when he was a basketball coach. “(Former Notre Dame University Coach) Digger Phelps was one of my idols so I dressed like him. I had several Digger Phelps style outfits, including the flashy plaid jackets. I even wore a carnation on occasion and loved to wear cowboy boots. (Coach) DeFazio just hated those cowboy boots, but I got a reputation for my style and that was at the same time I was getting a reputation with the officials.”

 

While some of us certainly remember Iquinto’s “fun” with the officials, many of us don’t remember his Park Avenue basketball wardrobe or even the fact that he coached basketball more than three decades ago. That, of course, begs the question as to where on earth this blog is heading.

 

You see, Pete Iquinto’s final run as basketball coach included coaching a young man for a year whose name was Paul Ayers. It was the same young man that he coached for four years on the Lincoln High School baseball team during one of the most successful periods in the program’s history.

 

And it’s the same Paul Ayers that Iquinto now sits on the bench with as a volunteer assistant coach for the BHS Indians. Talk about coming full circle after three decades away from coaching basketball.

 

“It’s been 32 years since he was my jayvee coach as a sophomore and then he coached me four years in baseball,” said Ayers. “You know, I remember so much about that time and it was nothing but a good time because we won a lot and because Pete was the ultimate coach.”

 

At that point, Lincoln was competing in Class AAA and was having at the time some of the most successful seasons in the school’s still early history. Ayers remembers all of that, and yes, he remembers the wardrobe from those jayvee years too.

 

“He stood out in those three piece suits,” said Ayers, who Iquinto described as one of the most powerful hitters he’s ever seen. “It was first class.

 

“On a serious note, when I played for him in a baseball I learned about coaching with passion. Everyone on our team could see his fire and desire to get better,” said Ayers, who was the captain his senior year for Iquinto’s Cougars. “I’m serious when I tell you he would have played 365 days a year if he could have.

 

“My father (the late Paul “Bubba” Ayers) and Peter were a lot alike in how they thought. They both showed me through their own examples that if I was going to coach and not be excited and passionate about it, then how can I expect the kids to be that way,” Ayers contniued. “They both believed that if you do something working with kids you better be committed to it.”

 

Now, Iquinto is committed to helping Bridgeport’s girls basketball team advance in the postseason that begins this week. And Ayers is thrilled to have another helpful – and familiar – face on the bench.

 

“I can’t tell you how blessed I am to know he was willing to come back and help. It’s another voice on the bench and another person to talk to,” said Ayers. “As a coach, I can turn to a guy that has seen everything imaginable from a coaching standpoint.”

 

What’s really unique is that the  pair has gone from a player-coach relationship to becoming the best of friends to now working together. Ayers said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

“To have your friend and your mentor with you, a guy that’s been nothing but good to you for nearly your entire life, helping you out is incredible,” said Ayers. “I appreciate him more than he knows and I think the team appreciates him as well.”

 

Of course with Iquinto out of coaching for so long, Ayers wasn’t quite sure what to expect when approaching Iquinto about helping out. According to Iquinto, there should have been no reason for trepidation.

 

“It was a no-brainer to help out. When I’ve watched Paul coach and I can see him doing things the right way and wanting me on the bench, well, I’ve got to be totally honest and tell you that it moved me,” said Iquinto.

 

There are a few difference from now and the last time Iquinto was on a basketball bench in an official capacity. Iquinto no longer dabbles in a wardrobe that would be the envy of the Nature Boy Ric Flair. He no longer is the one who harps on the officials or does the other chores the head coach has to assume. And there’s probably a good chance you won’t see him do sommething  at a game that you’ll be talking about for years to come.

 

“I’m really calm now; trust me on that,” said Iquinto with a laugh. “It’s just been great and I enjoy it. The girls are different to coach, but there’s no diffference in the fact that they’re a great bunch of kids work with .... There are just a few bad times from all my years of coaching and to be with this group is a reminder that you can enjoy yourself and let those kids lift your spirits up.”

 

Ayers and Iquinto are both hoping they can lift themselves into the state tournament. That will all be determined starting this coming week. Regardless of what happens, Ayers has been able to smile a lot more because of having his friend join him on the bench.

 

“He’s one of the few people that knows the right thing to say to make me smile. To this day, there are times he’s had me laughing to where  I couldn’t breathe,” said Ayers. “I should be clear that if you think of him as just a funny guy on the bench, any bench, you’re selling him short. He knows how to coach.

 

“I know a lot of people that see him think he’s changed and in a lot of ways he has,” Ayers continued. “To me, though, Pete’s the same guy he was 32 years ago. That’s good enough for me.”

 

Even Iquinto acknowledges that his days of putting on a show or even a three-piece, plaid suit are almost certainly in the past. In fact, he almost embraces that as much as he does his return to coaching basketball.

 

“Today, I’m the voice of reason. I’m the tranquility coach,” said Iquinto. “I’ve even shown I can be quiet.”

 

Nothing, however, would make Ayers and Iquinto happier than to watch the Indians make some noise this postseason. There’s nothing better than being able to win, unless you’re doing it with one of your best friends.

 

Editor's Note: Top two photos, by www.benqueenphotography.com, show Pete Iquinto working as an assistant with one of the individuals he used to coach - BHS girls Coach Paul Ayers. Bottom photo shows Iquinto when the Liberty High School baseball field was named in his honor.