Badin announced Kreke as its new boys basketball coach on Friday. He served as an assistant to now-retired head coach Gerry Weisgerber the past two seasons. Before that, Kreke spent 30 years at Fenwick, where he was 380-306 as head coach. Fenwick did not renew his coaching contract in March 2019.
Kreke gives Badin a second straight 300-win coach at the helm.
“Pat is a proven winner, a generational leader, he knows how to relate to kids and people and most importantly he is a great human being,” Badin athletic director Geoff Melzer said. “Pat’s a special person with the success he’s had over the years. You don’t last that long at one job if you’re not good at relating and can’t adapt to the kids you have. We’re ecstatic to have Pat as our coach.”
Kreke is a 1975 graduate of Badin. He was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. He played baseball at Xavier University from 1976 to 1979.
Weisgerber retired at the end of this past season after compiling a 339-193 record in 23 years with a state title in 1988 and final four appearances in 1997 and 1998. He endorsed Kreke as his replacement.
Melzer said Badin received about 35 applications for the position and interviewed eight candidates.
“At the end of the interview process, it was unanimous among the (hiring) committee, he was the one for the job,” Melzer said.
Kreke takes over a team that went 10-14 last season.
During his final three seasons at Fenwick, he compiled a 46-27 record with a Greater Catholic League Co-Ed title in 2017-18. Kreke remains a teacher at Fenwick, where he also guided the Falcons baseball team to an Ohio Class A state championship in 1981.
Kreke and his wife, Juanita, live in Hamilton.
⋅⋅⋅ Edgewood also has hired a new coach, announcing a promotion for assistant Jason Osterman.
Osterman steps in for longtime Edgewood coach John Thomas, who retired this year.
Osterman has been coaching in the Edgewood system the past six years, including two as a varsity assistant and as an eighth-grade coach before that. He comes from a basketball family. His father was a varsity assistant at Monroe and brother was the program’s all-time leading scorer.
After graduating from Centre College with a financial economics degree and minor in education, Osterman began his coaching career as a varsity assistant at New Miami, where he coached one year before moving to Edgewood.
“We have a talented group returning, and you’ll see a more up-tempo style of basketball on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively,” Osterman said in a press release sent by the school, also noting his greatest strength as his ability to build relationships with his players. “I’ve been with the incoming juniors and seniors since middle school. I’ve been able to build a bond with both of these classes.”
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