“On the line” is a phrase our boys basketball team hears often when starting punishing (or punishment) drills. But it was the future of the basketball program, and not the students, on the line this summer as Judah searched for a boys basketball coach. Now, the program looks to carry its momentum under the new leadership of Coach Tim Arnold.
Coach Bill Ipsen had earned his retirement after the 2023–2024 season, and the next man up had big shoes to fill. Judah high school boys basketball is a storied program. There have been highs and lows, but Judah took a huge leap forward under the guidance of Coach Ipsen.
Coach Ipsen brought experience to Judah. He began his coaching career in 1999 at St. Teresa in Decatur, where he led the high school girls team to 5 regional titles, 2 sectional titles, 2 super sectional titles, and an undefeated state championship in 2003–2004. Coach Ipsen accomplished all this in just 7 years, before switching to the high school boys team. There he continued his winning ways, garnering 2 more regional titles and another sectional title. He took the high school boys coaching job at Unity in 2010, and in his 6-year tenure there, he won yet another regional title.
When Coach Ipsen came to Judah in 2018, the high school boys team had just won its first ever regional championship. So the pressure was on the new staff to perform. The team went 29-3, setting the record for most varsity wins and bringing back-to-back regional championships to Judah. Coach Ipsen specifically mentioned what this historic season meant to him, saying, “That was a special team. The growth Coach Mead and I saw that season was tremendous, and I was so proud of what we accomplished.”
Coach Ipsen’s final season last year was the entire Ipsen family’s final season, as his son Grant was a senior. Coach Ipsen said, “Coaching your son is always difficult but rewarding at the same time. Unfairly, the bar is always higher for your own family, but there is a knowledge of each other that goes beyond a regular player/coach relationship.” Indeed, Coach Ipsen had a special relationship with a lot of the players on his final team. He commented on what his final squad meant to him, saying, “I really enjoyed coaching last year’s group, because of the time spent outside of the gym together with the team.” It’s safe to say that he ended his career on a good note, with good relationships with his players and more than 400 wins in his career.
Coach Ipsen has had no problem adjusting to retirement. His love for the game remains the same. He told us, “I do miss coaching and the relationships that you create through it, but I am in a good place with retirement from basketball.” Coach Ipsen’s message for his former players is this: “It’s not all about X’s and O’s. It’s about people and relationships. Strive to be a better Christian, and the winning will take care of itself.” He closed with his iconic motto: “Effort and attitude are the only two things you can control.”
While a dominant coach’s career has come to an end, Judah’s winning ways need not. Judah’s new coach, Tim Arnold, is a veteran coach out of Indiana. With his background in a huge basketball state, Coach Arnold brings a different brand of basketball to Judah. He has embraced the challenge of getting used to Judah, his team, and the Champaign area.
Basketball, however, did not bring the newly hired coach to the area. He said, “I married my wife Christine this year and moved to the Champaign-Urbana area from Indiana.” While new to the area, in no way is Coach Arnold new to the game. He said, “I believe this is my thirteenth year coaching basketball, both boys and girls, from five years old to twenty years of age.”
Here in Champaign, Coach Arnold walked into the FCA office and ran into Delandis Beck, a former Judah assistant who is highly respected in the high school boys basketball program. Judah was in a scramble for a coach, and Coach Arnold wanted to get back in the game. It’s hard to say that God wasn’t involved in the process. Coach Arnold said, “I was put here for a reason.”
As he settles in to his newest stint as a head coach, Coach Arnold’s philosophy is simple but powerful. He believes that “it’s a privilege to coach. The foundation for me as a coach is to be a servant leader.” Understanding the value of getting to mentor young men on and off the court, the coach’s goal for the team is as follows: “Be the best person you can be, the best student you can be, and the best basketball player you can be. We may not always succeed in doing that every day. But that is the goal. When we don’t do it, we learn from it and get back up and try again.”
Coach Ipsen brought Judah’s high school boys basketball program to new heights, and Coach Arnold looks to do the same. While the coaches have changed, the mission has not. The mission is to have victory, not only on the court but in Jesus.
—Keaton Welch, class of ’25
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