—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Iowa Central’s Dennis Pilcher sits on the bench (far left) with new head coach Chad Helle (center). After 40 years as the Triton men’s basketball coach, Pilcher has decided to retire.

Chad Helle has already invested nearly two full decades of his life into the Iowa Central men’s basketball program he will now lead.

Helle was both a player and a long-time assistant under retiring head coach Dennis Pilcher. He stayed committed to a coach, a school and a city he believes in now more than ever before.

Yet Helle never felt like it was a given that he would replace Pilcher when the time came and the position opened up for the first time since 1979. Others may have assumed it was a foregone conclusion, but Helle treated the application process as an opportunity — not a right.

“I didn’t feel entitled to (being Pilcher’s successor) at all,” the 42-year-old Helle said. “I never assumed it, and we never really talked about it much (until recently). I didn’t think to myself, ‘OK, I’ve put my time in here, so they have to give it to me.’ That’s not the way it works. You earn the job; it’s not just handed to you.

“I knew Coach was going to retire at some point, obviously, but the timetable wasn’t discussed. I can’t thank (ICCC president) Dr. (Dan) Kinney, (vice president of enrollment management and student development) Tom Beneke and Coach (athletic director Kevin) Twait enough for giving me the vote of confidence. And of course Coach Pilcher … his faith in me taking over this program means everything. Iowa Central could have looked elsewhere or gone in a different direction. I appreciate the support, and I’m going to do my best.”

Helle is a native of Cedar Rapids and a 1995 graduate of Western Dubuque High School in Epworth. He was an all-region selection during his playing days at Iowa Central from 1995-97. Helle then had an all-conference career at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.

Helle returned to Fort Dodge and joined Pilcher’s staff in 2002.

“I’ve always known my role and stayed within that role since I came back, but Coach really gave me the freedom and trust to work as both a coach and a recruiter in my younger days. That was always big for me (in terms of staying put through the years),” said Helle, whose first official day as head coach was March 18. “He didn’t micromanage. There was never a question of who the head coach of this program was, but it’s not like Coach was looking over my shoulder all the time or not open-minded to new ideas or suggestions.

“I give Coach a lot of credit — it would’ve been very easy for him to stick to (his core) beliefs and philosophies during the latter stages (of a Hall of Fame career). But he kept things fresh and evolving for us here. He was (fluid with) the times, and understood the way the game is played never stays the same.”

Helle added “there will be some tweaks” as he makes the program his own, but “there won’t be anything drastically different on the court.”

“Of course I’ll find my own niche in terms of applying my personality to our team,” Helle said. “But Coach Pilcher won (759 games in 40 seasons) here. He’s a Hall of Famer. And a lot of who I am as a coach and as a man is a direct credit to him. So big picture, no, you’re not going to see any big changes.”

The growth Helle has witnessed first-hand both on campus and in the community is a “huge selling point” for the athletic department at Iowa Central.

“Fort Dodge has a ton to offer,” Helle said. “The progression of our campus in the last 20 to 25 years has been incredible, and the town has really embraced that growth and done the same in its own right. It’s a great relationship. I hear it all the time from kids who come here on visits and are impressed — this is a true college town now.

“We take pride in our facilities and keeping up with the Joneses here, so to speak. Three of the most important aspects of a college campus, aside from the academics, are, ‘where do we live, where do we play and where do we eat.’ We have all of those covered and then some at Iowa Central.”

Helle landed his first recruit recently in St. Edmond all-state senior Andrew Gibb.

“We’re always going to battle for the area kids, and getting Andrew on board was big,” Helle said. “That philosophy won’t change: we’re going to recruit from the inside out — trying to find kids from a 60- to 70-mile radius around Fort Dodge to build around.”

Ky Kramer, another former Triton player, will stay on the staff as Helle’s lead assistant. One more coach will round out the staff sometime in the near future.

“In the coaching world, when you’re hot your hot, and when you’re not, you could find yourself out of a job in a hurry. There are no guarantees,” Helle said. “I just consider myself very lucky to be in a place that has embraced stability and patience.

“There isn’t much loyalty left in this world, which can be a scary concept. Iowa Central has been nothing but great to me, and Fort Dodge has been home for a while. I don’t take any of this for granted.”