Former Ohio all-stater, BV coach Brad Bickett now experiencing state excitement as a volleyball dad

Brad Bickett experienced the biggest thrills a high school basketball player could have when he took part in the Ohio Bulldogs’ magical state runner-up run in 1986.

He also got a taste of March Madness from the coach’s bench with three consecutive third-place finishes with his Bureau Valley Storm basketball team from 2000-02.

Two decades later, he’s going to be gaining a new perspective of the state tournament atmosphere – as a volleyball dad.

The Bureau Valley athletic director is enjoying the ride as his daughter, Claire, a senior member of the Rock Falls volleyball team, is embarking on its first state tournament appearance in five decades.

The Rockets (34-6), who won last week’s Class 2A Princeton Sectional, will face Breese Mater Dei (31-6) in the state semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Friday at CEFCU Arena on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.

Bickett said it’s much easier being a player handling the pressure than a dad.

“I’ve been pretty good all year long, but when you get into this postseason it’s win or go home, so I’ve been a little bit on edge,” he said. “I’ve got to just sit back and relax and enjoy the experience and let these girls enjoy it and hopefully bring home a state title.”

He said his daughter has been handling the nerves well.

“Claire is pretty laid back, pretty calm. Doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. I think the rest of the girls follow that,” he said.

Her father was known as “Thunder” to teammate Lance Harris’ “Lightning” on the Ohio state basketball team. Claire Bickett is bringing plenty of thunder to the volleyball court this season, delivering 385 kills overall, with a match high of 20.

The old basketball player/coach tries to stay out of volleyball, leaving that to his wife, Jolene, a Rock Falls assistant coach and former Manlius standout. He has shared some of what they can expect with the state atmosphere and playing on a much bigger stage.

“I’ll just encourage them about depth perception and stuff life that,” he said of the big arena. “The net and height is the same just like the same hoop size and height. Depth perception for serving and serve reception and stuff like that will be a little bit different. [But] they’ll get used to it and get to practice down there.”

That doesn’t keep the old coach from going into coach mode. He texted his daughter Monday morning after he got to school because “she was still half asleep” to offer some fatherly/coaching advice.

“I said, ‘Hey, you enjoyed the weekend. You know now you’ve earned the right to go to the state tournament. Now you and your teammates got to get refocused and try to win a couple more games. You’ve got this far, don’t celebrate too much,’ ” he said.

“Today [Monday] should be back to business as usual. I would say that’s the most impressive thing about this group. They’ve just been pretty business like. That just shows maturity. It’s come together pretty well for them.”

It’s been an amazing run for the Rockets in longtime coach Sheila Pillars’ last season, even if maybe not expected this year. They have taken Rock Falls back to state for the first time in about 50 years since making back-to-back appearances in 1974 and 1975.

“They’ve probably won over 120 games over the last four years. Maybe her sophomore year, maybe last year they thought they were good enough to get there,” he said. “This year, they just weren’t quite sure, because they graduated so much the last two years.

“I’m super happy for her and her teammates. That group of girls are super close. The majority of them have played since their freshmen year for Sheila at the varsity level. Most of them went to Montmorency [elementary school], so they all went to the same feeder school. Played club and been together for years.”

The only thing that will be missing at state is Grandma Bickett, Norma, who passed away earlier this year. She was the Bickett kids’ No. 1 fan, but they all know she will be there in spirit.

“She’ll be watching down on those girls,” Brad said. “She always brought her cookies. She was the greatest grandmother, because she always brought those. I know she’ll be there in spirit. Claire is definitely thinking about that. It’s pretty special.”

Kevin Hieronymus has been the BCR Sports Editor since 1986. Contact him at khieronymus@bcrnews.com