By Shannon Russell
Enquirer staff writer

After four decades of coaching, Northern Kentucky basketball guru Ken Shields said he's "stopping to smell the coffee" in retirement.

Shields retired last spring after leading Northern Kentucky University's men's team to 306 wins in 16 seasons. He's Northern Kentucky's winningest coach in college and high school (460 wins in 23 years) hoops.

"It's hard being away, but I'm doing better than I expected," said Shields, 62. "If it was someone new coaching, I'd probably struggle more. But these guys are all proteges of mine who were with me for years."

Shields backed Dave Bezold, his 14-year assistant, as the fourth men's coach in Norse history and remains close to the entire coaching staff. He stopped by practice for the first time Monday to say hello.

That's as far as he wants to infringe, he said. He "won't give suggestions unless anyone asks" and is a Norse season-ticket holder.

Life outside basketball has continued normally, he said. He's teaching University 101, an entry-level class to acclimate students to college, for the 16th year.

"The differences are subtle. They're starting to set in," said Marie Shields, his wife of 39 years. "This is about the time he'd be spending time at basketball practices, fund-raising and scouting."

Shields devotes time to his 5 children and 12 grandchildren instead. When he's not shuttling grandkids to school, he's at their sporting events, cooking or visiting his 90-year-old mother, Blanche. He's also spent time at NFL and college football games, something he couldn't do during basketball season.

Shields is content - for now.

"I wouldn't rule out the possibility of coaching a little bit more," he said. "I'll probably take a look at it again at the end of the year."