From the desk of Wally Dawkins, Athletic Director:

“Relationships. We all want ‘em…now what are we gonna do with ‘em?”

So go the lyrics to the song “Fruitcakes” by Jimmy Buffet.

It’s a timeless question. What are we gonna do with them?

The young man was in the 4^th grade.  Gangly with arms that nearly stretched to the gym floor. I saw him walking down the sideline in the old gym at Whitehouse. He came up and sat on the man’s knee who was sitting beside me.

It was his Grandpa.  His Grandpa was the Head Basketball Coach at Whitehouse High School, and I was an Assistant Coach.

I immediately hit it off with this future basketball whiz kid.  His dad played for the 1978 Whitehouse State Championship Team.  So did his uncle.  And Grandpa was the coach of that team.  “Grandpa”, C.L. Nix remained the Head Coach at Whitehouse until 1989, where he was my mentor while amassing 731 wins.

His grandson had a great smile and was always friendly while giving greeting me with a long drawn out “Haaaay Coach!” In the years to come, Chad Nix would be one of the best players I would ever coach.

He and another stellar player Lance Evans, who was named to the 1^st Team All East Texas squad, and who signed with East Texas Baptist, would lead Whitehouse to the playoffs three years in a row, including a 45-42 win over #2 Sweetwater.  In that game, Nix and Evans combined to hit 12 three point baskets in the upset victory.

After high school, Nix went on to play for Tyler Junior College while growing to a height of 6’7, and had numerous offers to play at 4 year schools before deciding to call it quits. Chad Nix graduated from Whitehouse High School in 1997. He along with Evans were two of my “most favorite kids” to ever coach.

They were both hard workers, who honed their skills, and were blessed with God given talent. They were great players who made me a better coach.  They put up good stats and led their teams to 20 plus win seasons from their sophomore through senior seasons.

But it’s not their ability that I remember these guys for.  It’s the relationship that I still have with them to this day.

I have only seen Lance one or two times a year due to the fact that has moved away from Tyler, but he has been on the Brook Hill campus several times and will be playing in our BH Golf Classic on October 17^th. I have stayed extremely close to Chad Nix, often going to lunch and reminiscing about old times…good times…tough losses, and discussing what it’s like to be a husband and a father.  He even buys my lunch occasionally which really makes me feel good.

These are just a couple of the young men who I coached over the years that I still stay touch with. I don’t stay in touch with them because they were outstanding high school players who received scholarships to perform at the next level. I stay in touch with them and their families because of the relationship we started even before they were high school students.

I encourage our coaches at Brook Hill to build relationships with their athletes.  To communicate, show interest in, while challenging their player’s potential.  Athletes pick up really quickly on coaches who care only about wins and losses.  Fortunately, at Brook HIll, our coaches are intentional in developing the whole person, which will mean the forming of lifelong relationships.

I have told people for years, that although we have 7 players participating at the NCAA D-1 level from BH, and 20 more playing in colleges across the country, that Brook Hill Athletics is about relationships…not scholarships.  If you doubt the validity of this statement, ask yourself “which one lasts longer?”

And that’s another reason to be “ALL ORANGE” …All The Time.