He is a living legend at Fork Union Military Academy.
Thursday night basketball coach Fletcher Arritt was inducted into Fork Union's sports hall of fame.
Arritt was one of four members inducted, along with longtime NFL All-Pro linebacker, Dexter Coakley; one of the nation's leading research experts on sports injuries, Dr. Frederick Mueller; and the late E. H. "Gus" Lacy, Jr., one of FUMA's legendary coaches and former Athletic Director.
Arritt recently retired after 46 years as Fork Union's head coach.
The 70-year old is battling stage three lymphoma cancer.
Arritt sent more than 200 players on to the college ranks, including a handful who played in the NBA.
"One of the things we tried to establish here in their minds is basketball is a nice game, but the key is getting into school somewhere with basketball, and then graduating," says Arritt. "Basketball's not any good if you don't graduate."
The coach says he was excited to see all the familiar faces for all of the hall of fame inductees.
"I'm here most of the time, and a lot of them are coming back to see me. Maybe they're coming back to make sure I retire," Arritt added, with a smile. "That's probably it."
Fletcher Arritt played a postgraduate year at Fork Union in 1959-60, and finished his coaching career at FUMA with 888 wins.
He sent over 400 graduates to the college ranks, 200 to the Division I level, and seven to the NBA.
