Bishop LeBlond basketball coach Steve Vertin has died of complications from multiple myeloma, with the private school in St. Joseph announcing Coach Vertin’s passing on its Twitter account this (Wednesday) morning.
LeBlond said Vertin “died peacefully, with his family at his side at 5:30” A veteran coach with experience in northwest Missouri, northeast Kansas, and three schools in southeast Nebraska, Vertin started his school teaching career (social studies) just across the Missouri River from St. Joseph, in Wathena, Kansas 45 years ago. Vertin had also been an assistant coach in recent years at nearby Savannah and Benton High Schools.
The Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) inducted Vertin into its Hall of Fame on April 16, 2016 in Springfield. In 13 years coaching the boys basketball program at LeBlond (ending in March 2012), Vertin had a 198-126 record. In addition to his basketball duties, Vertin spent 11 seasons in the football program at LeBlond, including the 2009 season when he served as head coach. He led the Eagles to three district titles in basketball, including a fourth-place Class 2A finish in 2002 and a Class 3 quarterfinal appearance in 2008.
