By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ken Shields, Northern Kentucky's winningest basketball coach in both the high school and college ranks, appears ready to close the latest chapter of a coaching career that has spanned 39 years and included 750 victories.

Shields told the Enquirer he will likely retire from his post as Northern Kentucky University men's coach after next season.

"I'm inclined to think this would be my last year," he said Wednesday. "I feel it's time to pass the torch."

SHIELDS FILE

• Born: Dec. 23, 1941 • Residence: Fort Thomas • Athletic highlights: Named Covington Catholic's most outstanding athlete as a senior in 1960. Played baseball and basketball. • Coaching career: High school - freshman coach, CovCath (1964-65); head coach, St. Thomas (1965-75); head coach, Highlands (1975-88). High school coaching record: 460-257 (.642). College - Head coach, NKU (1988-present). • Collegiate coaching record: 290-155 (.652). • Coaching highlights: Five Ninth Region championships at Highlands. NKU team reached the NCAA Division II championship game in 1996 and '97. Named 1995 Division II Bulletin National Coach of the Year.

Yet that may not cap his career. Mentioning several options for what he'd do after next season, Shields said he'd consider returning to high school coaching and teaching. That would give him a chance to add to his 460-257 high school mark, the winningest in Ninth Region history.

Why coach in high school if healthy enough to do so in college? No recruiting and less travel.

"You can have a much more consistent family life on the high school level," Shields said.

Shields isn't wedded to coaching. He expressed an interest in remaining an NKU faculty member; he continues to teach two University 101 courses each year.

Either way, he seems set to leave the NKU program he has built into an NCAA Division II power. In December, he will turn 62 - retirement age - and he has endured health problems in recent years with two knee replacements and back surgery.

Shields is 290-155 in 15 years at NKU and has taken his team to the NCAA Tournament seven of the past nine seasons. He was named Division II Bulletin national coach of the year in 1995 and took his team to national championship games in 1996 and '97. He was inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.

"We're very supportive of whatever decision he'd like to make," athletic director Jane Meier said. "He's contributed so much to his men's program, but also to the athletic program and the university."

Though Meier would have to open the position to a national search and couldn't comment on potential candidates, the most likely replacement would be assistant Dave Bezold. Bezold, 37, is Shields' only full-time assistant and has been with him 13 years.

"With a guy like Dave Bezold, this (transition) will flow very easily," Shields said.

Bezold, a Holy Cross High School grad who played college ball at Viterbo (Wisc.) College, does the majority of NKU's recruiting and handles the team's defensive schemes. When Shields had his back surgery in January 2001, Bezold filled in and went 3-2, losing only tough road games at Southern Indiana and St. Joseph's (Ind.).

"Everyone was very pleased the way things went when I was out," Shields said. "I missed them more than they missed me."

Except for two sick days for earlier knee surgeries, those were the first days Shields had missed in his career.

Shields spent just one year as an assistant coach at Covington Catholic before getting his first head coaching job at now-defunct St. Thomas High. He spent 10 years there and 13 at Highlands, leading the Bluebirds in 1979 to their first Ninth Region title in 45 years and following with four more regional crowns.

He struggled early at NKU, and in the 1993-94 season - in the midst of his fifth consecutive losing campaign - was nearly fired. He was told to meet a set of criteria that season, most notably finishing .500 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, and barely made it at 9-9.

Then he brought in three big recruits: Shannon Minor, Paul Cluxton and LaRon Moore. They were the core of a group that went 25-4 the following season and won the school's first GLVC title.

E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com