Coach Danny Limes
Photo Credit: Kate Heckenkemper
Garrett Skrovina
May 13, 2010
Filed under Profiles
Basketball is not just a game for head basketball coach Danny Limes. He has turned his interest in basketball into a successful career in coaching and teaching. He played and coached basketball in high school and college.
He did not want to be a coach initially. “I wanted to be an accountant,” Limes said.
However, he changed his mind when he went through the interview process and did not like what he saw.
“I went back to school, got an education degree, got a master’s in education,” Limes said.
While back in school, Limes helped coach the team as a graduate assistant.
He graduated from Northeastern State University, where he played and coached, with a master’s in education and a minor in business administration. He describes his years at NSU as the best time of his life, where his team reached the top ranking in the country. However, today in college sports, “athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, quicker,” Limes said.
In addition to NSU, Limes coached at Memorial High School, Nathan Hale High School, and at Bishop Kelley. He is a graduate of Memorial High School. Limes has been at Bishop Kelley for over 15 years and has experienced success, gathering over 300 wins as a head coach.
“We’ve been doing this a long time,” assistant coach David Dee said, who has been with Limes his entire time at Bishop Kelley. “He lets me coach more than most assistants get to.”
Together, they coached the team to a state championship in 1995. Limes said it was satisfying to win a state championship because all the hard work that the players and coaches put into that goal pays off. That championship put Bishop Kelley into an elite class in high school basketball.
Limes says he looks forward to every day.
“There’s no blueprint of my day. It changes literally everyday that I get up, and I like that challenge,” Limes said. “My favorite part of my job is my interaction with my players, students, and co-workers.”
Limes contributes his success to the good players that he has had.
“He always has a good relationship with his players,” senior Matt Cunningham said.
Limes is what most would call a “player’s coach.”
“If I am a good coach, it’s because I’ve had good players,” Limes said.
Limes says his most memorable coaching experiences are his first win, the state championship, when Garrett Holmes scored, and when Mikey Ledbetter played with a heart condition that sidelined him for his career.
“It just showed him that he could play,” Limes said.