WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – Larry Menefee is the second all-time winningest coach in WFISD boys basketball history. He coached from 1991 to 2005, led the Old High Coyotes to 299 wins, eight district titles and made the state semifinals in 1995.
Coach Menefee said he is proud to be recognized as one of the best coaches in the district’s history as a Black man, but couldn’t have done it without the help of others.
“You try to pave the road for other people. I didn’t look at it as something I accomplished, I stood on the shoulders of other men. There were men like Ervin Garnett who came along before me who had established a path. You try to build up on their success so someone else can build up on your success and that’s the way I looked at it. I looked at it as, yes it was an accomplishment, but it was an accomplishment trying to build for someone else to come along later and continue,” Menefee said.
When Coach Menefee looks back at his career he said he doesn’t think about the wins and losses. Instead, he focuses on the young men he helped mold into productive members of society.
“I look back at the students and the young men that you affect their lives. That’s the whole point of the sporting world. I know sometimes we get it confused, but in the end, once you can walk away from it and look back it’s about whether you had a positive effect on their lives. I know a lot of them have gone on to do other things in their lives, and so you can look back and feel proud of that,” Menefee said.
It’s been 20 years since Coach Menefee has roamed the sidelines. In that time, he’s been a principal and is now the Director of Student Services for the district. Although its been that long, he said he misses coaching.
“I miss the camaraderie with the players and other coaches. You miss that because you don’t have like I said earlier that day to day. I miss the games. The games I still loved but you can not be successful in the games if you don’t do the preparation time,” Menefee said.
As Coach Menefee gets closer to the end of his career he still has fun.
“I think that is the crux of the matter with what we should as coaches and educators be. We should enjoy what we’re doing day to day. If you got a job or whatever that you’re miserable doing you need to go find something else. Find something you enjoy doing and do it and then you can appreciate it later on,” Menefee said.
Coach Menefee is fortunate to have had positive impacts on people’s lives to the extent that they remember him. He said it allows him to sleep at peace.
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