After 43 Years of Winning, High School Basketball Coach Honored With Court Dedication

High school coaches around the country are often larger-than-life figures for the transformative influence they have on the teenagers who play on their teams, and nowhere was that more evident than in Fordyce, Arkansas, Thursday evening.

Fans, family and friends packed into the school gymnasium to cheer for former coach Stan Jones. Called a “legend” by school administrators and former players, Jones coached basketball for 43 years and the basketball court would now bear his name. 

Superintendent Judy Hubbell said, “I want you to think, for a minute, about the untold good this man has done being a coach, a mentor, a teacher, a father figure, a church leader — think of all the young men he has impacted positively over a 43 year career. That’s amazing.”

Jones was no longer coaching.After his team returned for a basketball tournament in northern Arkansas, Jones suffered a devastating stroke. Months of intense therapy to regain verbal skills and physical mobility, the school where he had shaped many young lives honored him by naming its  gleaming hardwood court the “Stan Jones court.”

The idea for the court dedication began with principal and athletic director Anthony Socia. Socia recalled seeing a few colleges dedicate arena real estate in honor of beloved coaches.

“I researched it, got in contact with the company, and I’m proud and honored to know and work with this man,” Socia told a packed gymnasium filled with emotional supporters. “A lot of who I am today as a coach is because I watched you here on this court and how you ran your team and the practices, and I’ve emulated that.”

As colleagues and others shared their memories, Jones and his wife Lois sat just inches from his name on the court where he had won hundreds of games, led his team to 25 district championships and left it all on the floor for decades.

It took former player Kentrel Rogers a few moments to gather his emotions as he stood at the podium.

“Coach Jones is a legend,” he said. “When I think about Coach Jones I think about a great man. Great basketball coach and, no doubt, a staple in the community of Fordyce.”

Ernest Johnson, Jr. and Jones have been friends since childhood.

Johnson said, “Lois and Stan have made a difference in a lot of lives. If a student didn’t have money for shoes, they bought them. If the bus stopped for fast food after a game and somebody didn’t have money to eat, Stan bought it.”

Jones’ wife thanked the school, fans, family, church members and therapists who had faithfully rallied around her husband during his ongoing recovery.

The couple’s son Brandon joined them on the court for photos. He, too, is a high school basketball coach. On the night of the dedication, his team played basketball on the court named for his dad, a role model for him and so many young men.