After 11 seasons as Bowling Green High School’s head boys basketball coach, Von Graffin’s
supplemental contract was non-renewed.‘It’s about wins and losses to me,’’ Graffin said Monday night. ‘‘If
you work hard, no matter who their Mom and Dad were … if they were one of the best five they played. I
think that bothered people in town; that’s my own opinion.‘‘They asked me to resign, but I would never give
up on these young men … so I was non-renewed,’’ Graffin added.In a sea of change at BGHS, Graffin has been
a constant for more than a decade.‘‘I have out-lived four football coaches and five baseball coaches,’’
Graffin said. ‘‘Jeff Dever (BGHS principal) and Mike Vannett (recently retired BGHS athletics director) were
great for me.‘‘They were in communication with my players and those kind of things that I couldn’t do
because I wasn’t in the building.’’Graffin was preparing to rebuild the Bobcats this season after the team
finished 14-11 overall in 2012-13. There were six seniors on the 2012-13 team.‘‘My gym (at his home) is
always available for kids,’’ Graffin said. ‘‘I’ve had over a dozen kids out here this summer, playing over
80 hours so far in my gym, on my time.“I was going to start a sophomore, some juniors, and I had only one
senior coming back,’’ he added. ‘‘I was excited about rebuilding the program again.‘‘I took a lot of pride
in what we did. I think Bowling Green could have been in the top half (of the Northern Lakes League) like we
have in the last 11 years and now I won’t get that chance.’’In Graffin’s 11 years at BGHS, the Bobcats were
first or second in the league seven times and never finished lower than fourth, going 111-43.The team
finished with double digit wins 10 times, going 148-94 overall. The 148 wins are the most for any boys
basketball coach in school history.‘‘My non-league schedule was as good as any in the area,’’ Graffin
said.Graffin’s players won numerous awards, including a player of the year in the state and two first-team
All-Ohio players. At least one Bobcat has been first-team All-NLL selection in 10 of Graffin’s 11
seasons.‘‘There are 49 categories on our record board at Bowling Green High School and 24 of the 49 belong
to my 11 years,’’ Graffin said.Currently a teacher at Toledo Rogers, Graffin has been an employee of the
Toledo Public Schools for 28 years.An assistant coach at Macomber and Rossford, Graffin was an assistant for
the Bobcats for three years before taking over as head coach.