In March of 1987, Central Michigan University basketball coach Charlie Coles led his Chippewas to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA basketball tournament.

Five years later, Coles again finds himself worried about the fate of Central basketball -- only now that means Toledo Central Catholic. In a surprise announcement, Fr. Michael Billian, pastor and president of Central Catholic, named Coles the Irish's new basketball coach.

Coles, who spent last year as general manager of the Mid-Michigan Great Lakers professional minor league basketball team, said he doesn't "coach for advancement or for notoriety; I coach for the love of the game and the love of kids."

"I had to be back in coaching somewhere," he said. "If it hadn't been at Central, it would have definitely been somewhere else, but definitely at a high school."

Coles has not coached at the high school level since 1981-82 at Saginaw High School in Michigan, where he was named Michigan High School Coach of the Year three consecutive seasons.

"I could not put up with the hassles of the college game any more," said Coles. "The college game is in bad shape; high school basketball is sturdier."

"One of the truly great coaches I've ever known is Bobby Nichols at the University of Toledo," he said. "But when his recruiting went bad, his coaching record went bad. I don't need that any more."

Coles, who received a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from Miami of Ohio, will also be responsible for teaching Phys Ed at Central Catholic.

"I'm an educator, and as an educator, you go where you're needed," he said. "I haven't been the best coach wherever I've been, but I do know that wherever I've been, I have been the best teacher there. Any time I've left a school, the students are sorrier to see me leave than the athletes are."

"Heck, I volunteered to teach a Phys Ed class at Central Michigan," said Coles. "And everyone there thought I was crazy. The other coaches couldn't be dragged into the classroom."

As for the coaching aspect of his new position, Coles said, "The only things that concern me are: Do I have a locker room? Do I have a gym floor? Do I have ears to listen to me? That's what I need. I hardly ever concern myself with thinking about winning; I think about getting intot he gym with the kids."

However, there has been much speculation in the community that Central Catholic replaced former coach Bill Axe with Coles in order to build a program that can better compete with perennial City League powers Scott, St. John's and St. Francis.

St. John's coach Ed Heintschel, who guided the Titant to the state quarterfinals last year, said the thought Central Catholic "was interested in getting a highly visible coach with good credentials, and they certainly accomplished that."

Heintschel also said he understands Coles' move back to the high school ranks.

"Given the lifestyle, the intensity, the expectations of college coaching, I imagine you can only take so much before you look for a more relaxed atmosphere," he said.

However, Coles said he isn't sure "relaxed" is the right term.

"I'll tell you what," he said, "it'll be tougher coaching in that City League than it was in college."

Coles also said he is anxious to become involved in the community.

"If there's anything I've learned in my life, it's to try to give people hope," he said. "If I had any kind of resources at all, I would love to set up a center for young people in trouble, to get them back on track. I mean seventh, eighth, ninth graders. Once you get past the tenth grade, it gets real tough to redirect a young person."