“Excellence is not an act; it’s a habit,” is the motto upon which recently retired Irmo basketball coach Tim Whipple built his 47-year career.

BJ McKie remembers it very well. As a youngster, he grew up going to the Tim Whipple basketball camp and was a freshman early in Tim’s mini dynasty. Following a loss to perennial power Eau Claire in the 1990 Class AAAA state championship, everything came together in 1991, and Tim’s Irmo Yellow Jackets won the first of six state championships with a victory over James Island. Tim’s 43-year tenure as Irmo’s head basketball coach finally came to an end this past May when he decided to call it a career.

BJ went on to become the all-time leading scorer at the University of South Carolina and to have an all-star career playing overseas. He’s currently an assistant coach at Wake Forest University, but he’s never forgotten where he came from and why he made a career out of basketball that included stops at Charleston Southern, East Tennessee State, and now with the Demon Deacons.

“My first impression of Coach is that I couldn’t wait to play for him,” BJ says. “He had played for a couple of state championships, and he was quickly becoming an icon at Irmo. People knew it. He’s one of the best, if not the best coach I ever played for. He had the ability to get the most out of his players. I don’t care if you were the 12^th or 13^th player on the roster or the top player, he treated everyone equally. He demanded excellence. It’s almost like he’s the Coach K of high school basketball. He’s one of my best friends and my mentor. He’s the best ever to do it in this state.”

The Beginning

Tim grew up in an Army family, and his father was stationed at Fort Jackson when he was around 5 years old, so Columbia became home. He grew up in the Dentsville area before going to Spring Valley, where he graduated in 1973. He was a basketball and baseball standout good enough to garner a scholarship to play both at Erskine — point guard in basketball and mostly second base in baseball. He has since been inducted into the Erskine Hall of Fame.

He started his coaching career as the junior varsity coach at Lexington in the 1977-78 school year. After one season, he moved to Winnsboro, where he was junior varsity coach for one season. He and Valerie Whipple married in 1980. They have daughters Kate and Kristen, along with four grandchildren now.

He moved to Irmo the following school year, beginning in 1979-1980 as the junior varsity coach. He then served as an assistant on the varsity level, taking over in 1981-82 as the varsity coach. Success did not come overnight. It was being built slowly, but Tim said he would not change a thing.

The Championships

Tim guided Irmo to that first-ever state championship with a win over James Island in March of 1991. That team featured Pat Marshall, Marvin Orange, and Jeremy Coulter as standouts. Pat remembers what it meant to win that first state title and put Irmo on the map with the powerhouse programs like at Eau Claire, Lower Richland, and Keenan. But Pat remembers more about the influence Tim has had on his life all the way to him having two kids playing sports at River Bluff High School.

“It’s a fraternity of former players and coaches that span generations,” Pat says. “I’ve known Coach Whipple since I was 9 years old. It’s a family. Every one of his former players knows they can go to him for advice, drink a beer, or just talk hoops. It’s a fine woven thread that makes people from different generations connect because we all played for Coach Whipple. We’re all connected because of him. It goes beyond basketball, and it’s something for which I’m forever grateful.”

The Yellow Jackets returned to the state finals the following season with BJ as a freshman on that team, but this time they lost to James Island. In 1993, they lost to future NBA All-State Ray Allen and Hillcrest of Dalzell during the playoffs, the only time in a seven-year run they didn’t play for a state championship.

BJ led Irmo and Tim to their second and third state titles shortly thereafter. In 1994, the Yellow Jackets defeated Dorman in the finals. BJ capped off his high school career with what was then a state championship game record 42 points in a 57-48 victory over Hillcrest of Simpsonville. The following season saw another state championship game appearance, but this time they came up short against rival Lexington.

The Lexington Wildcats were coached by Bailey Harris, another legendary coach who won multiple state titles for Lexington. Bailey and Tim’s careers ran almost parallel to each other. They battled in regular season games, region championship games, playoff games, and state championships. It was always a competitive affair, but the respect grew over the years. In total, they faced each other 67 times over 32 years.

“He’s the best to ever do it,” Bailey says. “The fact that he was able to be that successful on the Class 4A and Class 5A level for that many years speaks volumes for what he accomplished. You knew when you played against a Tim Whipple-coached team they would be very prepared, play with great fundamentals, and play disciplined. I have massive respect for how he always seemed to get the best out of his players. ‘Icon’ and ‘Legend’ are used a lot, but it definitely fits in this situation.”

Tim went on a drought after that 1996 state championship game, but what a run that one had been. Irmo appeared in six state championship games in seven years. They won titles in 1991, 1994, and 1995.

“I never really live in the moment, but when you’re able to sit back and look at things and really appreciate them, that was a magical time for Irmo basketball,” Tim says. “For the majority of the time, we had good high school players where most years the whole was better than the individual parts of the team. Those teams understood their roles and accepted them to the best of their abilities.”

Tim didn’t make it back to a state championship until 2011, when Irmo knocked off Ridge View in a matchup of teacher verses pupil. John Combs had been the student manager under those BJ-lead teams, and he was now the coach at Ridge View. He recalls what it meant to face Tim on the biggest stage the state has to offer.

“It really meant the world to me,” John says. “As a coach, your goal is to reach a state championship, but the one person I didn’t want to see on that other sideline was Coach Whipple because I knew how big the task would be. But I’m in athletics because of Coach Whipple. The excellence he built when I was a student manager was something incredible to watch. He treated me as part of the team, which really meant a lot to me. He preached things the right way, and that is probably what has stuck with me the most over the years.”

Two years later, Tim accomplished something he had never done in his career up to that point. Led by Detrek Browning and Justin McKie, BJ’s son, Irmo finished undefeated with a victory over Goose Creek in the state championship game. That team finished 29-0 and ranked No. 13 in the USA Today Top 25.

Tim lost in the finals to Byrnes in 2016 and in 2018 to Dorman before coming back for one final hurrah in 2023. Irmo surprised many across the state and captured the state championship with a dominating victory over Lancaster in the state finals. That gave Tim six state championships and 11 title game appearances in his 43 years of coaching. He finished his career with 848 victories, which is the second most in state history behind Great Falls coach John Smith’s 943 wins. He won state titles in three different decades, expanding from the 1990s to the 2020s.

The Impact

When Tim became the head coach at Irmo in 1981, he had no idea he was on the brink of a run that placed him among the state’s elite basketball coaches. But it’s what was built away from the court that means the most. Former players, assistant coaches, and even rivals always come back to the relationship, not the wins and losses. Those relationships began in 1981, and they were just as strong then as they were for the 2024 team.

When Tim appeared on the Lost Lettermen podcast in 2021, he talked about those early years and what they meant all the way to that season. That was the building block and vision that he had, and despite reaching great success, he wasn’t always sure he was going to get there.

“I have a basketball from 1981 and it says, ‘Laying the foundation,’” Tim said on the Lost Lettermen. “That’s what we were doing then, laying the foundation for the future. I never knew if we were going to get there. But it was a start. All the young men who played on those teams before we arrived, I give them credit. They didn’t reap the benefits, but they can look back and see it. They come and look at the banners when they visit, and it means a lot to them.”

Over that 43-year span, Tim sent nearly 50 players to the college ranks. BJ was at South Carolina. Pat played at Furman. Marvin started four years at Alabama. Jordan Roper, a member of that 2011 championship team, played at Clemson. Detrek played at Francis Marion. Justin followed the blueprint of his dad and played at South Carolina. And that’s just to name a few.

One of Tim’s fondest moments is when former players drop by just to say hello. They come in droves, and they come often. They never forgot the experience of playing for Irmo.

“It really means everything,” Tim says. “That shows that guys know you care about them not just as basketball players but as people. Coaching is all about relationships. If you can show players that you really care about them, they will do anything for you. I always wanted to be the coach that pushed the players to reach the best that they can be. Outside of that, I didn’t really have a plan.”

The Legacy

Tim just retired in May, so he says he hasn’t really given much thought of what his legacy might be. He does know what is next. While the day-to-day grind of being the basketball coach is no longer there, the passion will never disappear. Tim will be in multiple gyms this fall and winter but this time as a spectator. It will be different, but it’s a well-deserved reward for giving more than 40 years to the sport. It’s time for the sport to give back to Tim.

“You build so many relationships over the years, not with just players but other coaches,” Tim says. “I’m looking forward to getting out and going to see friends I’ve made over the years. And I get to see some former players that are still playing. Plus, you have BJ at Wake Forest and Brooks Savage at East Tennessee State. I want to go see those guys and support what they’re doing.”

But what about that legacy — how does he want to be remembered?

“I never really got into coaching to have a legacy at the end,” Tim says. “I got into coaching because I always felt like it was my calling. I wanted to put players in position not only to be successful in basketball but in life. Seeing former players and the men that they’ve become is greater than any victory on the court.”