Pat Kreke feels like he is coming home.

The 1975 Badin High School graduate and BHS Hall of Famer was announced Friday as the new boys head basketball coach at the school.

“It’s such a comfortable fit,” said Kreke, who has spent the last two years on the Ram sideline as an assistant coach for the retiring Gerry Weisgerber. “It’s like being able to come home. I can’t wait to get started and continue the Badin basketball tradition.”

One Hall of Famer is replacing another as Kreke steps in for Weisgerber, who has retired after 23 seasons and 339 wins at the Badin helm.

Weisgerber coached the boys basketball Rams for 18 years from 1981-1999, directing an undefeated Badin squad to the 1988 Division III state championship, then going back to the state Final Four in 1997 and 1998. He then stepped away from the helm before returning to the top spot five years ago, compiling 67 of those 339 wins during his second stint in the job.

“I couldn’t be more excited,” Kreke said. “To step in for a legend like Gerry Weisgerber, to know the Badin culture, there’s no other place for me. I’ll finish my career at Badin no matter what.”

His first team meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 21.

Kreke has done this once before, taking over at Fenwick High School for legendary basketball coach John “Butch” Rossi. Kreke coached the Falcons for 30 seasons through 2018-19, compiling a record of 380-306 with 19 winning seasons during those years.

Kreke was also a talented baseball player, starting at catcher for Badin’s 1975 Division II state runner-up – the first Ram team to reach a state final – and then playing baseball during his college days at Xavier University. He also coached baseball at Fenwick, directing the Falcons to the 1981 Class A state title.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Pat Kreke as our new boys head basketball coach,” said BHS Athletic Director Geoff Melzer. “We had a lot of very strong applications and excellent candidates. At the end of the day, Pat Kreke was the one we felt should lead the program.”

Melzer said that Badin had 35 applications for the post and interviewed eight candidates. He said the committee was unanimous in recommending Kreke for the job.

“When you have the opportunity to replace one of your school’s Hall of Famers with another one, that’s a pretty special situation,” Melzer said.

Weisgerber was inducted into the Badin Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002; Kreke was inducted in 2005.

Kreke, known for tough defense and hard-nosed half-court basketball teams at Fenwick, said he expected to change things up at Badin.

“I think we’ll be different than what most people remember of my teams,” Kreke nodded. “We’ll play a more up-tempo game, get it up the court and shoot it. We have a lot of good shooters in the program right now. We’ll be more up-tempo; more exciting.”

Asked about the lure of coaching basketball, Kreke said, “Just the total package. It’s not just about basketball -- it’s about developing kids, developing them as young men. You want to develop the whole man – academically, in terms of his family, his relationship with God. All of that may be the best part of coaching.”

Kreke, age 64, is a health and phys ed teacher at Fenwick High School. He and his wife, Juanita, are the parents of two boys and live in Hamilton.