NCAA Basketball: Gene Bess, a giant in coaching from his small perch

Three Rivers College is a tiny school you may not have heard of, but newly retired head coach Gene Bess is the all-time wins leader in NCAA basketball.

If the name Gene Bess doesn’t ring a bell, that’s not much of a surprise, but it should since he’s got more NCAA basketball victories than anyone else, including Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

I like to think that I have a fairly solid knowledge of collegiate hoops’ history, however, until I read about Bess this past weekend, I have to confess that I didn’t know about him.

More importantly, I had no inkling that the head coach of Three Rivers College, a two-year academic institution in Poplar Bluff, Mo., with total enrollment of slightly more than 3,000, is calling it quits with exactly 1,300 wins – 143 more than Coach K.

Shame on me.

The 85-year-old Bess, who announced his retirement after 50 campaigns at the helm of Three Rivers College on May 9, leaves the sport with an overall mark of 1,300-416, per this article.

During his tenure with the Raiders, Bess made 17 trips to the NJCAA Tournament and captured two national championships, in 1979 and 1992. His teams had 19 or more successes in a season on 43 occasions, including this most-recent stanza, when Three Rivers College finished 19-12.

Brian Bess, Gene’s son and an assistant coach with the Raiders for nearly three decades, will replace his father as Three Rivers College’s head coach, according to the institution’s president, Dr. Wesley Payne.

Although, can you truly “replace” someone who spent a half-century guiding countless young men, among them future NBA star Latrell Sprewell? Additionally, at least 42 former players under Gene Bess have ended up coaches themselves.

Despite his hard-to-completely-fathom achievements, Bess is, naturally, a humble human being. “This school has been the greatest thing imaginable in my life,” he said. “I will be here for them, but the team and everybody concerned are in good hands.”

In 2001, Bess became college basketball’s winningest head coach. He was also the first to reach victory No. 1,000, No. 1,100 and No. 1,200. Fittingly, his 1,300th conquest amounted to his final home game on a court named in his honor.

“I’ve been realizing the time was near for me to go. The bottom line is, I want to be here to make the players better,” said Bess, who has dealt with some health problems in recent terms. “I felt like I was just as effective, but I didn’t have the energy level to do what I need to do to excel as a coach. The time has come.”

A heartfelt congratulations to you, Mr. Bess. I’m sorry that I didn’t previously know about your mind-boggling accomplishments. But I’m elated to have an appreciation for them now.