Whitehall has had a lot of success promoting its JV boys basketball coaches to the big chair in the recent past, so it made sense that it decided to do so again in May, announcing that Marcelo Conklin will succeed Christian Subdon as the Vikings' head man after five years coaching the JV.
Both Subdon and his predecessor Nate Aardema moved up from JV to varsity head coach, and Subdon, who is still the athletic director for the Vikings, thinks Conklin has the tools to replicate their success.
"He's a relentless worker," Subdon said. "He hit the ground running and he's already got the guys in the gym. They've already played 20-plus games, and (they played more last) weekend at Grand Valley (State). It really is incredible to see somebody that wasn't from here and jumped into all things Whitehall."
Unlike Subdon and Aardema, Conklin did not graduate from Whitehall; he played for the Fruitport Trojans. He was only 19 years old when Subdon tabbed him as JV coach, but the Whitehall culture quickly impressed him.
"It was just the community, honestly," Conklin said. "The kids all got along with each other. The parents had great support in the program, and in other (Whitehall) programs as well. From going to (other sports') games, it was being part of a community that cares about each other and wants the best of everything for Whitehall. The kids care about wanting to get better, playing hard and competing."
Subdon said Conklin was given more than he was probably ready for when he took the reins of the Viking JVs, but "he excelled past all expectations." As Aardema did for him, Subdon gave Conklin tasks that got him ready to take over a varsity program.
"He did everything we needed him to do," Subdon said. "In the interview process, he showed he's ready to put his spin on the program."
In addition to coaching the JVs the last few years, Conklin has spent plenty of time on the varsity bench during games and said he made time to be part of the varsity's practices whenever he was able to.
Conklin's philosophy doesn't sound much different than Subdon's; he emphasizes competing hard and making sure if opponents are going to beat the Vikings, they're going to earn it - and feel the aftereffects.
"I just want the guys to compete, to play hard no matter what they do," Conklin said. "I want them to practice hard. I want teams that play us to know that they're going to have to work for everything. We're going to build on toughness and competing hard."
Subdon said relationship-building is a strength of Conklin's, citing his work in the middle school as a paraprofessional working with special education students - a job Subdon said he's even better at doing than he is at coaching basketball.
"I wish people could see him in that role because of how great he is," Subdon said. "He's phenomenal."
One nice thing for Conklin is, as the former JV coach, his first couple of varsity teams will consist mostly of players he's already built those relationships with as they came up through the program - guys like seniors-to-be Alex Winczewski and Pierce Westerlund and junior-to-be Rex Pumford.
"I've coached all these guys," Conklin said. "I work in the middle school too, so I know those basketball players. I'm pretty confident in being able to teach them to play hard, play the game of basketball and compete, building on the program Christian and Nate left."
Conklin is fired up to get on the court for the coming season, and he'll have help whenever he needs it from Subdon - but the AD suspects it won't be long before that help won't be all that necessary.
"He's done a lot of the things I believe in, because it's what we've preached the last five years," Subdon said. "He's put his own spin on some things and asked me my thoughts, and my thoughts are, 'Go for it.' He has a lot of great ideas on a lot of things. I think he's going to do better than me, and I'm excited to watch him grow."
