Dear Editor:
I lost a great friend Sunday.
Don and I first met in 1973 when he called me and asked if he could come to talk with me about Noblesville and Noblesville basketball. I didn’t know who Don Jellison was, and I had never been to Noblesville and had to look on the map to see exactly where it was.
He drove the 90 miles to Fowler to tell me what a great place Noblesville was and encouraged me to look into the basketball job there. I did look into it and decided against taking the job. However, three years later the job was open again, and I received another call from Don. I revisited the situation and ended up accepting the basketball coaching job at Noblesville High School.
I always told him it was his fault I was in Noblesville, and he always kidded if we were losing that I shouldn’t tell anyone that. Noblesville turned out to be as great as Don said, and it opened the opportunity to work with dozens and dozens of great young men.
Don was an icon in covering high school sports. No one has ever done it better, and I don’t think anyone ever will. Upon hearing of Don’s death a mutual friend wrote, “It is unbelievable what he did for Hamilton County sports. The average person has no idea how much he put into his life.”
I have read almost every column of Don’s the past 42 years, and never one time did he criticize a student athlete. He might question a team’s effort or strategy but never was critical of the student athlete. On occasion coaches were fair game, but not the kids. Don’s goal was to get as many kids’ names in the paper as possible. He often stated how excited he was to see his name in the paper when he played youth baseball, and he wanted every young person to feel that excitement. He gave that feeling to thousands of kids. It is hard to image how many of Don’s articles have ended up in scrapbooks of Hamilton County athletes.
During my 16 years of coaching Noblesville basketball, if Don noticed a young man struggling a little, he would find a way to mention him in his next write-up on our team – it generally was not the star player. Don was extremely respected by players and coaches. There will never be a sports writer who will cover the local scene like Don.
He enjoyed a little controversy and would often write a column just to get things stirred up a little. If he believed in a civic issue he would pursue it relentlessly.
Almost every time we talked he would update me on his family. He was especially proud of all of them including his son Jeff’s success with the Reporter and grandson Drake’s success. The love of his life, wife Mattijane, encouraged him to keep doing what he loved – covering Hamilton County sports.
Julia and I visited Don on Sunday afternoon. He was not doing well, but he wanted to know who was going to be good in basketball this year. Usually when I would leave after visiting him in the rehab center, he would thank me for coming and say, “See ya.” Sunday when I left he said, “Bye, Dave.”
Bye Don!
Coach Dave Nicholson
Noblesville