Letters to Coach Gene Bess

Legendary basketball coach Gene Bess will be enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Daily American Republic knows Bess’ impact on the area extended far beyond the basketball court.

We will be sharing some of those stories over the next week as the community celebrates the achievements of Bess.

Here is one of those stories about Bess’ impact:

Early in his tenure, as a child, I used to sit right behind the bench with my own designed scorebook. I took in everything I could at each game. From his coaching style to the players he coached. He would go to the scorers table to get the attention of the referee to get an explanation on a call. He would either agree with it, or let the referee know how dissatisfied he was with the call.

Later, I attended all of his camps as a player and learned what I could. When I coached youth sports, a lot of what I did, I learned from him.

What I learned the most was, you have to put in the time and effort to be a better player/person. I used this in my work career. I also, had a couple of opportunities to take him quail hunting on our family farm. Lastly, I got to coach Brian, along with my brother Darren in AAU basketball for a season.

-Larry Orton

If you have a story you’d like to share about Coach Gene Bess, please email tdixon@darnews.com.