Coach Blakely Passes Away

[Mean Green 93-98]

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1800&ATCLID=205019550

EDIT: I apologize, it should be spelled "Blakeley."

Edited October 27, 2010 by Mean Green 93-98

[CMJ]

Oh Man....hopefully we have a tribute to him in the opener or soon after. One of the best we ever had.

RIP Coach.

[foutsrouts]

RIP Coach. A great coach and a great man. Sorry he didn't get to see us go deep into the NCAAs.

[bstnsportsfan3]

they need to do a tribute, preferably before the Tech game since almost no one will be at the Home opener.

RIP Coach, basketball in heaven just got better!

Edited October 28, 2010 by bstnsportsfan3

[SUMG]

RIP Coach. Gosh, it was fun to watch him coach. He was very colorful.

Every year, Coach Blakeley's wife sewed (or had made) a cover that went over the back of his chair, on the bench. They had slogans written on them. The first one was "Don't Expect Miracles". I think the second one was "Miracles Never Cease."

I think it'd be cool for the Ath. Dept. to have one of those made up...and put it on one of the seats at the end of our team bench....signifying that Coach is with us in spirit.

[Mean Green Matt]

I have heard many stories from my dad about what a great coach Bill Blakeley was, and how exciting his teams were to watch. I really wish I could have seen some of those games in person, but it was before my time. RIP Coach.

Surely the Athletic Department will have some sort of ceremony before the Tech game. There will be a great crowd, and it will introduce this generation of students to a great era in the history of North Texas Basketball that they are probably not familiar with.

[CMJ]

Great story SUMG.

My Mom wrote for the Sports Department of the Daily during part of the Blakeley years. She was very fond of the staff overall, and really liked the head man. I am curious to see what she'll remember first about him when I tell her.

[SUMG]

A favorite Coach Blakeley memory of mine:

We were beating UTA by 30-something points at the Super Pit. There's less than a minute to play, when UTA fouls one of our players. Anyway, our player goes to the free throw line to shoot FTs.......when, for no apparent reason---the UTA coach calls a timeout. I guess he was trying to "ice" our player and only lose by 32.....who knows?

Anyway, the timeout ends....our players go back for the the free throws. They get lined up, our shooter is ready to shoot FTs.....and Coach Blakeley calls a timeout.

That timeout ends....our players go back for the the free throws. They get lined up, our shooter is ready to shoot FTs.....and Coach Blakeley calls another timeout.

That timeout ends...our players go back for the the free throws. They get lined up, our shooter is ready to shoot FTs.....and Coach Blakeley calls another timeout.

He called three straight timeouts.....just to dig at the UTA coach for calling one really stupid timeout.

Needless to say, us UNT fans were laughing hysterically.

Thanks for the memories, Coach.

Edited October 27, 2010 by SUMG

[island eagle]

I will miss him indeed. Some of my fondest memories are of watching the Blakeley teams play. I certainly hope they do a tribute for him.

[CMJ]

Here is what my Mom said by email.

Oh Courtland-

This is so sad. I wish I could find his son to express my sympathy. If I was there I would attend the funeral. I knew him so well for three years. It has made me quite sad. You know I took Donald to his first basketball game when he was five days old. Coach B thought it was wild I brought him down to the locker room. He was such a nice man.

**Donald is my older brother - Mom went into labor with him the night of the NT/SMU game in 1977 - she waited till halftime to goto the hospital to deliver him. Talk about dedication to NT basketball and to journalism!

[NT03]

RIP

Maybe a BB patch on the uni's this year ?

[eulessismore]

When I started coursework for my major in geography, one of the professors let it be known that he and another geography faculty member were scorers at the home basketball games, broadly hinting that it would be a good idea for us to attend the games. So I did, and what a great time it was! His teams had a fast and aggressive style, and you always felt like we would win (since we usually did). I'm thinking that one of his assistants was Billy Tubbs, who went on to later fame at TCU and Oklahoma. Tubbs taught a swimming class I took one summer, and he's another guy I'll always have fond memories of. I read somewhere that upon being fired by the recently hired President, Al Hurley (I think we didn't quite win 20 games that year, after we almost always did), Blakeley said something like, "he's ex-military, and I don't salute". Great man, great coach, great sense of humor.

[NT80]

Wow, terrible news. Coach Blakeley, along with Coach Fry put North Texas athletics on the map during my years at NTSU in the late 70's.

Coach Bill was fun to watch and very animated especially when he got mad at a ref and tossed his jacket off into the air or onto the court. It was great to have a photo taken with both him and Coach Fry a few years back at an event at UNT.

RIP Coach Blakeley

[greenjoe]

One of my favorite North Texas collectibles, the game program from the Baylor game (sometimes refered to as the john horrocks All-World game). On the cover is a picture of Coach Blakeley "chocking" himself with his tie to show the refs that they were chocking by making the wrong call. I sent it to him some years later and he autographed it for me. My wife loved to go to the games just to watch Blakeley. Blakeley and Fry at the same time was a wonderful duo.

Thanks for the memories Coach. You'll not soon be forgotten.

[ADLER]

RIP Coach. Gosh, it was fun to watch him coach. He was very colorful.

Every year, Coach Blakeley's wife sewed (or had made) a cover that went over the back of his chair, on the bench. They had slogans written on them. The first one was "Don't Expect Miracles". I think the second one was "Miracles Never Cease."

I think it'd be cool for the Ath. Dept. to have one of those made up...and put it on one of the seats at the end of our team bench....signifying that Coach is with us in spirit.

[Cooley]

Bumped into Coach Blakeley about 8 years ago at Greenhill HS. My son was playing for Trinity Christian (Cedar Hill) while he was there to see a grandson play. I mentioned to him that I was a student during the time he coached at NT. He stated that he was crazy back then. He also predicted that the new coach (JJ) was going to do great things. On my way out, he stopped to provide a basketball tip to my son. Can't remember exactly what it was but it was a typical hysterical comment.

Blakeley raised the bar for men's basketball. In addition to winning, the teams were entertaining to the large crowds he attracted. After years of futility, I'm glad to see JJ's teams finally approach the bar he set. RIP coach!

[UNT_playmaker]

Man I was really sad to hear this news, I heard stories about how he was a great coach and did well at NT.

I really have alot of respect for anyone that gives their sacrifices for our university.

[SilverEagle]

Besides the signs on his chair, he also would show up wearing green boots.....MEAN GREEN boots. RIP coach!

[GoMeanGreen1999]

RIP Coach. Gosh, it was fun to watch him coach. He was very colorful.

Every year, Coach Blakeley's wife sewed (or had made) a cover that went over the back of his chair, on the bench. They had slogans written on them. The first one was "Don't Expect Miracles". I think the second one was "Miracles Never Cease."

I think it'd be cool for the Ath. Dept. to have one of those made up...and put it on one of the seats at the end of our team bench....signifying that Coach is with us in spirit.

Very good idea.

[UNTLifer]

Lot's of good stories and memories. I love SUMG's idea of honoring Coach B with an empty chair and a catchy phrase attached to it. I also remember the green boots and thinking they were the coolest things I'd ever seen. Remember, these were the days of the "Flying Worm" and the Apple Green uniforms.

I ran in to Coach B at the old Denton County Pro-Am Golf Tournament when he was the coach. He was on like his 14th or 15th hole of the round, and I approached his cart as it sat by a teebox to get his autograph. As I approached the cart, I noticed the basket on the back was full of empty golf ball sleeve boxes. Must have been 6 or 8 in there. Anyway, Blakely signs and autograph for me, tees up his ball, takes a swing and clips the ball with the heal of the club. The ball shoots between his legs, rolls down a hill and into a lake. Blakely just grinned and said "I'm done." He had gone through about 2 dozen balls and was out. Pretty funny moment and typical of his personality.

RIP.

[VideoEagle]

My friends and I always called him the Walrus because of the mustache. There was a great game wear we played UT coached by Abe Lemmons to triple overtime. I think we won, but that could just be my imagination. If I remember correctly, the fire department wanted to shut the event down as the turnstile count was about 1200 over capacity, but they got talked out of it as no one could prove the turnstiles had been reset. (THey had, but there was enough "doubt" to convince (read that "lie to") the fire marshal.) Never been to a basketball like that since. You can imagine the after games comments from those two coaches.

[Marty]

His teams were always entertaining. Coach Blakely will be missed. Once heard him say, "A pat on the back will do more than a kick in the butt."

Interesting reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Blakeley,

[All About UNT]

Sports ILL.

Last season North Texas State Coach Bill Blakeley put a sign on the back of his chair at courtside that read DON'T EXPECT MIRACLES. Blakeley then proceeded to take a team that was 6-20 in 1975, went 22-4 and averaged 96 points a game—second highest in the nation. But the Eagles weren't invited to either the NCAA tournament or the NIT, so Blakeley is beefing up his schedule by dropping all non-Division I teams. The Eagles can fly; there is not a player on the team who can't dunk. Junior-college transfer Charles McMillian, a 6'3" forward with a 22.5-point average, can perform a 42-inch vertical jump.

R.I.P. Bill....you will be missed.

[GrayEagle]

I was fortunate enough to have several sessions where I could listen (mostly) and talk to Bill. He may be the most entertaining conversationalist that I've ever heard. I never tired of Blakeley sayings or stories.

Another of my favorite Blakeley mannerisms was to see him tilt his head back and grab his nose as if to say "that call stinks". Yet, I can't recall his getting a technical for any of his antics.

He remembered nearly everyone that he ever met and always had a kind word. Even if he told a crazy story about some of his players you could tell that he still loved them. He never condemned them because he was crazy himself.

He was every kind adjective that you can think of...kind, thoughtful, entertaining, loyal, cheerful and reverent. I will deeply miss you, coach.

[Ibleedgreen]

Remember Joe Hamilton? And yes...Billy Tubbs was a Blakeley assistant.