A legendary area basketball coach is calling it a career after decades of molding young players and young men. But Coach Fletcher Arritt is leaving behind a legacy few will forget.
After Monday night's loss, all Arritt really wanted to talk about was the final score. But this home game was about a lot more than baskets - it was apparent by the packed house of bleachers and proud players taking the court for their coach.
In his military uniform and worn out Nikes, Coach Arritt paces up and down the sidelines.
Gary Hines, who played for and coached with Arritt, said, "You don't come in and fill a man's shoes like that. It's just not going to happen."
Coach Arritt watched every pass, every shot, every dribble with a critical eye. He stated, "There's a time to quit, so I've reached that point."
You couldn't tell from his record or his spirit, but the buzzer is sounding on Arritt's longtime career as head basketball coach at the Fork Union Military Academy.
"You come to work each day, you do your job and then you go home and you come back the next day and the first thing you know it's 42 years," said Arritt. "That's about as easy as I can explain it."
Arritt explained it was his body that told him to leave the game. The man who sent hundreds to college on athletic scholarships and a handful to play NBA ball was recently diagnosed with stage three lymphoma. He said, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."
A modest Arritt doesn't think he's leaving a legacy after his four decades on Thomas Gym's floor. He's more concerned about Monday night's double-digit loss than talking to his team about anything about the disease, or even the fact that it was his last game on the home court.
"We didn't say anything in particular," stated Arritt. "We just tried to take it like it was any other game, but that's sometimes hard to do."
Hines said, "The best coach that no one has ever known, or knew about. I think that just about wraps him up."
Coach Arritt still has a couple of away games left. He said he wouldn't necessarily miss coaching, but it's been a good run with lots of fun and good friends along the way.
