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82, that’s why
Petitgoue retires with more than 1,000 wins
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Jerry Petitgoue announced his retirement after 56 years of coaching. In his tenture, Petitgoue accumulated over 1,000 wins.

CUBA CITY —  It’s been a great career — one of the best, even — for Jerry Petitgoue and the Cuba City varsity boys basketball squad, and at 82-years-young, Petitgoue is hanging up the clipboard. 

Petitgoue’s career in Wisconsin is one that’s spanned 56 years, 52 of those years with Cuba City, another three with Gratiot, eight WIAA State Tournament appearances, three state championships (1981, 1991, and 1998), and a 1,019-266 record following Cuba City’s 98-36 victory over Boscobel on Thursday, Jan. 26.

“People ask me why — 82, that’s why,” said Petitgoue. “It’s not that I don’t love the school district or the kids, I do and still have my passion for the game, but all good things have to come to an end sometime. I think this is probably the right time for me. I always said I’d know it when it was right, and it seems right, now.”

When asked about what post-coaching life would look like, Petitgoue doesn’t plan to sit idly by.

“I’m the executive director of the Wisconsin Coaches Basketball Association, along with my wife who is my executive secretary,” said Petitgoue. “We have close to between 4,500 and 5,000 members, and that is a full-time job with basketball, which I love. We have Hall of Fame and All-State banquets, Mr. and Mrs. Basketball, All-State teams, All-Star games, so that is one thing that I will continue to do.”

That wasn’t all Petitgoue had in store, though head coach isn’t the title he’s looking for.

“The other thing — come next basketball season, you’ll probably find me in a gym, helping some young coach get his team better, but I won’t have to do it every day,” laughed Petitgoue. “If I want to visit my daughter down in Atlanta, we can go, or if we’d like to spend a week in Florida, we can do it. If we’d like to spend a couple weeks in Arizona, we can do that too.”

For now, the focus is on the squad’s remaining nine regular season games that include several difficult matchups — including Platteville (12-5) on Monday, Feb. 6, Mineral Point (14-2, 6-1) on Thursday, Feb. 9, and Darlington (17-1, 8-0) on Thursday, Feb. 23.

For Petitgoue, retirement isn’t a hard stop, but more of a pivot.

“No, I’m not divorcing myself to the rocking chair or anything like that,” said Petitgoue. “I’m still going to be involved in basketball. It’s been my life, and so I will continue, especially with the coaches association, to keep quite busy.”