If there was one word to sum up the journey to 400 wins for Bob Curtis, it would winstinct.

The Community R-6 girls basketball head coach introduced the word to the program he has led since the 2005-06 season and it has carried the Lady Trojans to nine district titles, six conference titles and two Final Fours.

“We wanted to really get something that embodied what we were trying to do as a team,” Curtis said. “You’re not going to win every night, but winstinct is instinct to win. We say that at every practice and before every game. We really try to brand that into our players that you might have a night where shots don’t fall, but the instinct to win is heart, toughness, mentality, believing you should win and confidence.”

The Lady Trojans did win 45-26 on Dec. 16 at home against conference foe Sturgeon, which is also the alma mater of Curtis. After the game, there was a ceremony and reception honoring Curtis for his just acquired 400th career win by past and present coaches and players. 

“The players made it a priority,” Curtis said. “I’m glad to be a part of it and help them reach their goals. We talk about goals for the first couple days of the season, and usually, they’re very lofty. That tells me the program has a lot of success because they assume that we should compete for a conference and a district and try to win 15-20 plus games a year.”

As a player, Curtis played in a Final Four with Sturgeon for coach Bill Dorethy before playing in college at Central Methodist. Before coaching at Community, Curtis spent four years at Knox County coaching boys basketball and softball, which he said is where he initially started loving to coach girls.

Curtis came to Community because his wife and current Community elementary school teacher, Deanna Curtis, graduated from and won a softball state title with the school. His father played basketball at Community, so he said his family and her family had ties to the school and area. He also viewed the program as “ready to launch” as it had already “laid the foundation.” 

“We talk about family as a team, but they were literally family,” Curtis said. “It was important to me because it was coaching a lot of family through the years.”

Jocelyn Curtis is family Curtis has coached the past four years. She is his daughter and was Community’s leading scorer against Sturgeon with 21 points along with seven rebounds and a 7-for-7 night from the free throw line. Picking up that 400th win was important to Jocelyn.

“He pushes me to my ceiling,” Jocelyn Curtis said. “He always talks about how I'm going to push you to your limit, and you’re going to realize one day that’s what you needed to do. He’s always been my biggest fan and role model.”

Deann Brooks was part of two of the best teams in program history. The Lady Trojans went to back-to-back Final Fours in 2019 and 2020 for their first state appearances in their history in what Brooks described as “a whole different world.” The current diagnostic medical sonographer at Women’s Health Associates in Columbia was happy to spend that time with Curtis.

“He doesn’t give up and doesn’t let us give up,” Brooks said. “He pushes us to be the best that we can be. He is always willing to stay after practice to help us out, and he is always available for us to always ask questions.”

Mackenzie Chism graduated from Community in 2007 so she played for Curtis around the time he started the school. Chism said Curtis was “a great leader” as her coach that made the players want to follow him. She is currently his coworker as the elementary school counselor, which has made it even clearer to her that he is “an awesome all-around guy.”

“He’s very down-to-earth,” Chism said. “He’s always willing to help others. As a coach, he stuck around and would always help you. I wasn’t the greatest player, but I was part of the team and he made sure I was included. He still does that.”

For as long as the Lady Trojans have seen success, because Chism remembers her team advancing to sectionals in 2007, they have had the “Waffle House menu.” The Lady Trojans have had to memorize a long list of plays on a thick and folded piece of paper in his pocket. 

Chism said Curtis has probably added new plays since her playing days but recognized some of the ones he was calling out during the Sturgeon game. Brooks can attest that the menu becomes even thicker, especially during the longer seasons like when the team went to the Final Four.

“Looking back now, I don’t know how I memorized all of them,” Brooks said. “I remember helping coach (Stacie) Carroz set up a binder because we knew that state would be so loud and thinking, ‘How do we have this many?’ We all joke that he would have a notebook by his nightstand in the middle of the night and just wake up and start writing them all down.”

Jocelyn Curtis said there is “nothing we can’t run” and that “the other team scouts and thinks we know what we’re doing, but we got a whole another list for them.” 

Bob Curtis said the term came from when his players started teasing him about how thick his playbook is and how it resembles one held by an NFL coach on the sidelines. He said it can take a year for a girl to memorize the playbook, but Curtis said they work on it so much until it’s “second nature.” Community wants its players to be prepared for any situation.

“You get scouted so much anymore that, if you don’t adapt, you’re easier to guard,” Bob Curtis said. “100 percent throughout the season, we try to continue to change. 

Curtis has said he wouldn’t be where he is without his players, but it goes both ways. His players said their lives are better after playing for Curtis.

“I wouldn’t be coaching,” Chism said. “I coach my kids in the youth league (at Community). In college, I minored in coaching, and I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for Coach.”

“I would not be the basketball player I was, that’s for sure,” Brooks said. “He kept us disciplined, he helped us out, and he really magnified our strengths and worked on our weaknesses.”

Brooks said Curtis helped build her character and kept her involved in the team even while she was injured. Chloe Johnson couldn’t play against Sturgeon because of an injury, but the senior has played for Curtis throughout high school. Johnson said Curtis tells and shows his players how much he cares, and she cares for him.

“He has been a role model in my life since I was in third grade,” Johnson said. “I love that man to death. I would definitely be lost without him being my coach. He has taught me leadership, and he’s inspired me to be better than what I even thought was imaginable. I can get a little mad sometimes, and he definitely helps reel me in so I can keep a cool head in a game.”

Curtis was glad his players were playing with “that winstinct mentality” during his 400th win as he has always wanted to see his girls play with heart and effort. He has always wanted something else, which was apparent when his former players and coaches returned for the occasion.

“It’s what I dreamed of when I was a kid,” Curtis said. “As a player in high school, I knew I wanted to be a coach. I loved my high school coach, Bill Dorethy, and I just wasn’t ready to be done. I wanted to give kids the experience that I had. I wanted to help kids reach their ceiling, and it’s just a blessing 25 years in to really feel like I’ve done that.”