Blair's fiery Whippets make school history

By PETER DiGIOVANNI

Something special takes place when a basketball team starts to take on the qualities of its coach and leader. This can only occur when the players believe and respect the man in charge.
When this marriage takes place, it is only because the coach is a very intense and hard-working leader who his players know will go to the wall for them and the program.
This magical acceptance could apply to this year’s Downingtown West basketball team and its fiery coach Damien Blair. The Whippets were not blessed with the most talent of the area’s teams, but they charged to a 23-7 record, the first Ches-Mont League championship in school history and a berth in the Class AAAA PIAA playoffs, another first for the school.
It is for this bond that coach and team forged, and for reaching such lofty heights that Downingtown West’s Damien Blair is the Daily Local News Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.
Blair took a hard-working, blue-collar team and instilled his no-quit philosophy into it and the Whippets achieved far and above what most could have imagined.
“This maybe was not the most talented team we have had, but they definitely had more chemistry than the other teams,” Blair said. “Our kids played with so much heart and emotion it allowed them to go all the way to the state tournament.”
“This was probably the most enjoyable season I have had coaching. I had no problems with the kids. They set goals for themselves and they went out and tried to make every one of them happen.”
Teams that went up against West knew they were in a battle for the entire 32 minutes due to Blair’s impeccable preparation and his team’s fiery attitude.
“Damien deserves every accolade he gets for what his team did this year,” West Chester Henderson coach Leon Bell said. “He works very hard all year for his kids and he works his kids hard. I was very happy for his success.”
“The thing about Damien’s teams is that they come at you the entire game,” Oxford coach Sean Harvey said. “They really get after you and that is a tribute to him as a coach.”
The Whippets won a tense game with Coatesville for the Ches-Mont title and defeated the Red Raiders again to get to the state tournament before coming within a whisker of knocking off undefeated Norristown in the district playoffs.
Blair has raised the bar at Downingtown West since he came to the program eight years ago. These days, teams now talk about what a feather in their caps it would be to knock off Blair and the Whippets.
And that is the ultimate tribute.

To contact staff writer Peter DiGiovanni, e-mail pdigiovanni@dailylocal.com