Greseth Steps Down After 17 Years Coaching WCH Hoops

Doug Greseth

Doug Greseth is the all-time winningest coach at Wesley Chapel, with a 300-164 record leading the boys basketball team.

He removed the poster of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that won 72 games. He packed up boxes of trinkets and papers accumulated over 36 years of teaching physical education and 34 years of coaching. 

After 17 years at Wesley Chapel High (WCH), a tenure that included a 300-164 record — the most wins of any coach at the school in any sport — Wwildcats’ boys basketball coach Doug Greseth has officially hung up his coaching whistle.

He’s certainly earned it. Greseth has played and coached basketball for more than 50 years and, including his previous tenure at Tampa Jefferson (1999-2002) and Okeechobee (1983-96) high schools, his coaching record was 533-325 overall

Greseth and the Wildcats finished the shortened 2019-20 season with a 16-9 record. It was the 14th year his Wildcats finished with a winning record. His run also included nine playoff appearances.

“I think kids really like discipline,” Greseth said about the secret to his success. “I think they like leadership. I think they like organization. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being demanding with kids.”

His best seasons at Wesley Chapel were back-to-back 24-5 records in 2011-12 and 2012-13, including a District championship and two Sunshine Athletic Conference Coach of the Year awards.

Forward Erik Thomas, the school’s all-time leading scorer (2,138 points) and rebounder (1,203) and the 2013 Class 4A Player of the Year, starred on both of those teams. Greseth, who also spent time as an assistant coach at the University of Tampa, said Thomas was the best he ever coached, and the two still stay in touch.

“Playing for Greseth in high school is what helped me grow into the player I am today,” says Thomas, who is currently playing professionally in Argentina. “He was an awesome coach that really cared about his players and it showed in our performance. The fact that he is always willing to welcome me with open arms says a lot about his character and, to this day, we still remain connected.”

Greseth, who remembers high school basketball when the 3-point line was taped on the court because it was experimental prior to 1987, also fondly recalled guard Chase Bussey, the leading scorer from his first Wildcats team, forward Greg Jenkins (who went on to play football for the Oakland Raiders) and forward Isaiah Ramsey, the leading scorer on his last four WCH teams. 

Peter Livingston, 36, has coached the girls basketball team at Wesley Chapel for the past six seasons, and he says the school has big basketball shoes to fill, not only for Greseth’s on-court successes, but because of the intangible benefits the coach brought to WCH.

“The administration will be sad to see him go because you could always go to coach Greseth and he straightened things out,” Livingston says. “One of the kids got caught doing something and the administration said they weren’t going to give him a referral, but they were going to go tell coach Greseth, and the kid said, ‘No, no, please, give me the referral!’”

Known as a defensive-minded disciplinarian, the 63-year old son of an Air Force officer used his man-to-man defense to turn young boys into successful men.

More than 40 players Greseth coached went on to play basketball or football in college, including one in the NBA and three in the NFL. 

What’s next?

 “I’m not sure,” he said. “I’m going to take a vacation.”

Support Comes In Many Different Forms…& T-Shirts

As the Pasco County Commissioner representing District 2, which encompasses most of Wesley Chapel, it is a big part of Mike Moore’s job to help local businesses that are struggling during the current Covid-19 pandemic in a variety of ways — from forming committees to find relief to helping engineer, and vote on, small business grants to making plans for an uncertain future.

But, one of the more unique and fun ways Moore is helping out is by giving social media shout-outs to local businesses with the requisite #SupportPasco hashtag.

Moore began encouraging area restaurants to send him their T-shirts — he promised to return them — so he could wear them in videos he has been posting on his Facebook and Twitter pages. Whatever shirt he is wearing that day, Moore shares a little about the business and encourages viewers to stop by and grab some takeout.

He started with Al’s Famous Pizza in San Antonio, and has also featured 900º Woodfired Pizza, Buttermilk Provisions and The Brass Tap.

Not only does Moore get to shine the spotlight on local businesses, it also gives him the chance to show off his new Grizzly Adams-style “quarantine beard.”

“It was just a fun thing that kind of started just to get the word out about these places,” Moore says. “It’s tough right now for them to spend money on advertising, so this is a big help. Every little bit you can do to help these small businesses is worth it.”

His videos generally receive more than 1,000 views, and he says his Facebook inbox is jammed with requests.

“I can’t even get to them all,” he says. “I sit there in bed at night trying to get through them.”

Moore’s video spotlights have been such a hit that he has opened it up to small businesses other than restaurants, and increased his output to two videos a day.

Social media has become a popular way to support local businesses, by sharing various specials and news about restaurants and other businesses. Moore has lots of company when it comes to promotion — the Wesley Chapel Community page on Facebook has open threads where small businesses can advertise, and here at the Neighborhood News  (also promoted by Moore), we have done a series of videos and Facebook posts promoting local businesses, with more to come.

As businesses begin reopening under new rules and new hours, getting the word out will be more important than ever.

Many Small Businesses In Wesley Chapel Hoping For Federal Aid

Pure Florida Watersports owners Natalie Manrique and Derick Burgos did not receive any government aid in the first round of PPP funding & feared for their business, but say they are thankful that customers are slowly returning.

Derick Burgos and Natalie Manrique (photo) are the co-owners of Pure Florida Watersports off S.R. 54 in Wesley Chapel. They are small business owners. They are the people that the grants and loans from the federal government, in response to the economic hardships caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, were supposed to help. 

Like many small businesses in Wesley Chapel, however, that help never came for the Meadow Pointe residents.

Despite applying for money through the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Burgos and Manrique, who are engaged, received nothing. The first time. And, at our press time, they hadn’t heard anything yet about the second round.

“It’s hard,” Derick says. “We are a mom-and-pop, family-owned business. We’re pushing hard to make this work. That (PPP loan) would have helped. Our business is lucky to be alive still.”

When it came to getting an infusion of funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security (or CARES) Act, a glimmer of hope was snuffed out for many Wesley Chapel businesses. 

The most coveted loan/grant sought was the PPP, which wouldn’t need to be paid back if the business showed that 75-percent of the funds were used to retain employees. But, that first $349 billion ran out quickly, and then news that bigger, well-known brands like Shake Shack, Ruth’s Hospitality Group (the parent company of Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse)Inc. and even the Los Angeles Lakers were among the businesses that received checks.

And, even though they eventually returned the money amid bad press, it did little to reduce the sting felt by area small businesses.

“It was a very confusing process,” says Hope Kennedy, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce. “We heard from many of our members. They weren’t happy.”

Nyree Bland, the co-owner of PROtential Sports, says PROtential’s after-school sports programs for kids have been closed for six weeks. She is praying the company can still offer its popular summer camps, “but we haven’t received PPP for our staff yet,” she says.

To help fill the void for county businesses, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on April 21 to approve $2 million for an aid package to help the county’s small businesses. The Pasco Economic Development Council (Pasco EDC) partnered with the county to get the $2 million in grants in the hands of as many as 400 area small businesses affected by Covid-19.

The vote was held at 11:20 a.m., and the website to apply went live a minute later. Luckily, says Pasco EDC CEO Bill Cronin, the county had purchased additional bandwidth to handle the crush, but even so, the EDC received 1,439 applications in 36 hours before cutting off the process. 

“We (the county and the EDC) wanted to try and help and make sure there was some cash moving around in the economy,” Cronin says. “It went a little faster than we thought.”

The Pasco EDC has begun distributing the money, the limit of which was $5,000 per applicant. Some small businesses asked for less than that, so more than 400 applicants are receiving at least some assistance.

But, many others are still waiting for that federal help, and trying to decide if they can survive without it. Businesses throughout Florida were allowed to reopen on May 4, but social distancing guidelines and stringent rules limiting the number of customers inside restaurants and retail establishments may not provide the boost those businesses need to survive. A second round of PPP, and more aid down the road, will help — if it ever comes.

Burgos says he was “scared crapless” during the early stages of the coronavirus. He has a rosier outlook now that the quarantine restrictions have been eased.

“I had some insider scoop that businesses under 50 employees were just going to have to brace themselves,” Burgos says. “We don’t expect to get anything from PPP, but a lot of people are getting stir crazy from being inside. I know a lot of them are on the fence still, but I’m hoping they will be coming back out.”