Retired Three Rivers College men’s basketball coach Gene Bess might be on the verge of getting some national recognition for his record-setting career.
Bess was named Friday as one of the 12 finalists for induction in this year’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class.
“It’s a big honor to be mentioned with the greatest players and coaches in basketball history,” said Brian Bess, Gene Bess’s son and successor as TRC head coach. “My family is excited and proud of his example and accomplishments.”
The news comes less than two weeks after a statue of the former Raiders’ head coach was unveiled in front of the Libla Family Sports Complex on the TRC campus.
The elder Bess is the winningest coach in the history of college basketball, winning 1,300 games over a 50-year career at the helm of TRC’s Raiders. He coached Three Rivers to national championships in 1979 and 1992 and averaged 26 wins a season while compiling a .758 winning percentage as the Raiders’ head coach. He was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Brian Rosener, the president of the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame, also had words of praise for Gene Bess. Rosener noted the elder Bess was inducted into the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame in 1983 when he had 370 wins. His plaque was recently updated to include the missing 930 wins.
“We’ve known Gene Bess was a hall of fame coach for a long time around here,” Rosener said. “His impact on basketball, however, is not just measured in the number of wins or championships. Hopefully the selection committee sees his lasting legacy on the game built over the past half century and honors Coach Bess this fall in Springfield (Massachusetts).”
Some of the other Basketball Hall of Fame finalists include NBA legends Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and former Purdue basketball coach Gene Keady.
The Hall of Fame inductees chosen from this year’s finalists will be announced at the Final Four in April. The induction ceremony then will take place in September.
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic