By JAMES

ANDERSEN

News Sports Editor

Harvey Marlatt still remembers the game very clearly.

It was March 1966 and the Alpena High boys basketball team was locked in a regional battle with Flint Ainsworth during a game where the Wildcats trailed most of the night.

Despite the deficit-which grew to 17 with five minutes left-Alpena coach Dick Dennis implored his team to keep playing hard.

“He said, ‘I don’t care if there’s one second left, we’re not giving up,'” Marlatt recalls Dennis saying.

That strong belief in his players-Alpena eventually won the game 77-75 on a pair of clutch free throws from Marlatt-and knack for getting the best out of them led to a successful tenure for Dennis at Alpena.

It’s also a big reason why he’s a part of the Alpena Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015. He’ll be inducted in May during the Hall of Fame’s annual banquet along with Bob Skuse, Bruce Mischley and Dave Karschnick Sr.

During a successful tenure as Alpena’s coach, Dennis led the Wildcats to a period of sustained success. Dennis ultimately finished with a 105-21 mark over seven years.

But for all that success, Dennis said he’s in a bit of disbelief over his upcoming enshrinement.

“I’m a little bit ambivalent. I’m not sure why I’m there,” Dennis said. “I’m honored and proud of it, but I look at some of the names (in the Hall of Fame) and I’m not sure why I’m there.”

Nonetheless, Dennis will join a long list of local coaches in the Hall of Fame as well as several of his former players.

“I liked the kids and I enjoyed what I was doing,” Dennis said.

Dennis graduated from Rockford High and participated in football, basketball and track while setting school records in several events. He began coaching in Carson City and went 40-11 before heading north to Alpena. Once here, he coached track and basketball and solidified what was already a strong hoops program.

During his time as Alpena’s coach, Dennis became known for his preparation and traveled all over the state scouting teams, many of whom the Wildcats played. While the practice is common today, Dennis used it to his advantage as coach. During the 1966 state tournament, Dennis told The News he traveled 2,700 miles to coach his team and to scout potential opponents. He read every recap of every Class A tournament game and kept a book of those descriptions to ready his team for every possible scenario they might face.

His preparation meshed well with a group of athletes that were among the most talented ever to play in Alpena including Marlatt, Rod Marlett and Howard French, who all earned all-state honors under Dennis.

“First of all, there were some good players there. They worked hard, had good character,” Dennis said. “When you’re better than the opponent, you’re going to win ball games.”

And win they did.

The Wildcats won three district titles under Dennis-the first coming in 1963 and the last in 1967-and showed their mettle against the best teams in the state. Alpena’s 1961-62 squad went undefeated in the regular season before losing in the playoffs to top-ranked Saginaw. During the 1964-65 and 1965-66 seasons, Alpena recorded one loss in each season.

While Dennis had plenty of impact on his players, his influence also spread to coaching.

In 1965 he hired a fledgling coach named Bill Frieder to coach Alpena’s JV team. When Dennis left to coach Flint Northern a few years later, Frieder went with him. After Dennis resigned his coaching post to go into administration at Flint Northern, Frieder took over the basketball program and led the Vikings to two Class A state titles. In 1980 he was hired as head coach at the University of Michigan and coached the Wolverines until 1989.

While some of the details of Dennis’ coaching success have faded with age, there’s no denying his place among Alpena’s list of top coaches and the impact he made on those around him.

“It was a real privilege to play for him. He was very ahead of the time,” Marlatt said. “He helped me a lot. When you’re young, you can go in so many directions and he kept me on the straight and narrow.”