By Dan Ninham
JonDePerry has been a basketball coach and a physical education teacher in the Twin Cities for over 30 years. He is currently the varsity assistant boys’ basketball coach at St. Paul Central High School. He is a member of the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The homelands are located in Red Cliff, Wisconsin on the northern shores of Lake Superior.
DePerry began his boys’ basketball coaching career in 1992 and served as the assistant varsity coach at Minneapolis Patrick Henry. In 1997, he became the junior varsity and assistant varsity coach at St. Paul Highland Park. He then coached as a varsity assistant at St. Paul Central during the 2006-09 seasons. Following being the head boys’ basketball coach at St. Paul Highland Park during the 2010-2017 seasons, he returned to St. Paul Central in his current position.
“One of my main coaching accomplishments is being a part of the 1999 State Tournament Highland Park Boys basketball program,” said Jon DePerry. “I was one of the varsity assistant coaches for the winning year. Highland Park was the first public school in St. Paul to win a state boys basketball championship in 50 years.”
“Another accomplishment that brings me much joy is having the St. Paul Central program play my high school alma mater, the Bayfield Trollers, in Bayfield Wisconsin,” said DePerry. “It occurred this past basketball season, as well as four years ago. It was an opportunity for the people of Bayfield/Red Cliff to see the program I have been a part of for so long. It was also an opportunity for the young men of the Central program to partake in some activities on the Red Cliff reservation.”
DePerry grew up in a family with three brothers. Their father was a Marine and construction worker. Their mother was a third grade teacher. He said, “Growing up in Red Cliff, my parents, grandparents, relatives and members of the tribe instilled the value of hard work at an early age. My parents believed that if you wanted to achieve anything, you need not make excuses or complain, but to put in 100% effort and work harder than others.”
“I am so proud of being a native,” said DePerry. “Of growing up in Red Cliff. Of being part of the great times and the tough times on the rez. My passion for being an Ojibwa is strong in me. The flag of my tribe hangs in my physical education gym as a reminder to all of these attributes daily. All of these reasons give me the opportunity to teach my players and my students of who I am and where I came from.”
Successful people are inspired by others and oftentimes the source is within their family. “Who most inspires me in coaching? I would say my older brother Gary DePerry. My brother Gary and I are 10 and a half months apart, but we were in the same grade growing up. We pushed each other to make ourselves better.”
“My brother was also a high school basketball coach in the city of Milwaukee. His 30-plus years of coaching at Milwaukee Hamilton, Milwaukee Vincent, Milwaukee Bradley Tech and Whitefish Bay Dominican earned him a spot in the Wisconsin Coaching Hall of Fame. Every step along the way I followed the way he coached, the way he worked and the way he interacted with players, coaches, officials and parents. His professionalism and caring approach are what I have tried to instill in my program.”
Charles Portis was inducted into the 2023 Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He led the Highland Park Scots for 22 seasons including winning the Class 3A state championship. DePerry talked about Coach Portis and said, “When I first met Charles in the gym, every day he taught me about the game of basketball, but what he was also teaching me was about life.”
“It was not hard for me to have to figure out that John had a strong love with the game of basketball,” said Charles Portis. “He had a very basketball IQ. He didn’t talk the game of basketball. He taught the skills of the game of basketball which put him in the top of the coaching class.”
“My mother Barb DePerry was a teacher who taught for over 30 years,” said DePerry. “My passion for teaching comes from her. She was admired by so many for the hard work and passion she had for teaching. She guided native and non-native students along the way. Not just teaching them, but caring about them.”
