Legends know Bess

A father, a family man, a coach and a legend.

That is Gene Bess and the man who gave Three Rivers College men’s basketball a mighty footprint for half a century. On a blustery Saturday afternoon, Bess was immortalized with a statue in front of the Libla Family Sports Center that could have passed for a warm blanket of Raiders love and admiration.

That’s what Bess means to Poplar Bluff and that’s why he joins the ranks of Michael Jordan and the fictional Rocky as mainstays in cultures that will forever call them their own.

“It’s over and above what I expected, but I am very thankful for a lot of people that helped me to get to where I am today,” Bess told the DAR previous to the actual unveiling of the statue. “I saw a picture (Thursday morning) and I had never seen (it) myself, but I’ve seen pictures. It looks all right to me.

“When somebody saw it originally, they said ‘it looks like Harry S. Truman.’ I said I could handle that. He was a good president.”

The statue may be quite a bit taller than the man it was shaped for, but the coach himself will cast a long shadow that is twice as big as his inanimate reminder. Gene Bess made Three Rivers his private coaching paradise as he averaged 26 wins a year over those 50 years while winning two NJCAA titles.

“I coached 12 years of high school and did all I could do, I thought, as far as accomplishments. This job became the best job I could have ever gotten,” Bess said. “It was the job I wanted from day one and still enjoy it up until now. It was a great place to coach.

“It was a college coaching job, but what it came down to, it had great leadership from day one. When I came over here, I thought it was as good a place as I could be. God provided it for me and I still feel like that.”

During the event, a handful of people spoke about the event and the man they gathered for and nothing but appreciation and admiration could be found.

“When you work in the presence of an icon and work with someone like Gene Bess, it is humbling,” Three Rivers president Dr. Wesley Payne said. “I am proud of all the work we have done to make this day possible.”

Aaron Decker, the school’s booster club president, took time out to thank the coach for all he had done for the school and community and shared an anecdote.

“He motioned to the official and went like this (come here gesture with his finger) … and whenever (you) would see the players miss a slam dunk, they’d hang their head,” Decker said. “Well, this official, hung his head and started working. There, for just a moment, the entire bench shuffled down to leave that (chair next to coach) vacant because they thought the official was coming out of the game.”

TRC Board of Trustees secretary Darren Garrison — who played for Bess and the Raiders in the 1980s — said the coach was not one for statues and more about preparing his players to be better prepared for the world outside the basketball court.

Bess of course spoke to the massive audience in attendance and thanked everyone for giving him this day.

“I really thank all these people for their kind words because it’s going to be hard to live up to all that stuff,” Coach Bess said. “I am the lucky one here today. I have gotten more satisfaction for being a part of Poplar Bluff and Raider basketball.”