LeBron James returns to St. Vincent-St. Mary to honor his high school coach, Dru Joyce

The 'kid from Akron' who became an international superstar returns home to show respect for one of his mentors

AKRON, Ohio – LeBron James walked through the back entrance of the arena that bears his name at St. Vincent-St. Mary on Sunday afternoon, but this day wasn’t about the best basketball player in school history.

This day was about his former coach, Dru Joyce.

STVM was honoring Joyce by naming the basketball court in his honor, as it will now be ‘Coach Dru Joyce Court’ at ‘The LeBron James Arena.’

James watched the ceremony and then spent time talking and laughing with Joyce, as the two men will now be linked together forever in STVM lore – one with the arena named after him and one with his name on the court.

The Los Angeles Lakers star was there with the other four members of STVM’s ‘Fab Five’ – Dru Joyce III, Willie McGee, Sian Cotton and Romeo Travis – along with over 100 former STVM players who were at the school to pay their respects to Joyce.

When James and his teammates entered STVM as freshmen (Travis would join as a sophomore), Joyce was an assistant on Keith Dambrot’s staff. 

When Dambrot took the head coaching job at the University of Akron prior to the 2001-02 season after winning back-to-back state titles at STVM, Joyce slid over to the lead seat and has been there ever since.

With Joyce as the head coach, James and his teammates went to two state championship games and won one state title and the 2003 national championship. 

Individually, LeBron was named the 2002 and 2003 Gatorade National Player of the Year, was named to the Ohio Mr. Basketball both years (also in his final year under Dambrot in 2001) and was named to the USA Today All-USA first team both seasons (also in 2001).

In her introduction speech for the court-naming ceremony on Sunday, STVM assistant athletic director Carley Whitey spoke of how the team transitioned from Dambrot to Joyce without a hitch.

“In 2003 without a doubt, they conquered Mount Everest,” Whitney said. “From 2002 to 2003, they were 48-5, went to state twice, brought home a state title, a national title and put Akron and STVM on the map. The boys basketball team recharged an already successful program and ignited and unified an entire school, community and city.”

Following his four seasons at STVM, James was the No. 1 overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft, becoming the first of two first-round draft picks coached by Joyce at STVM (Malaki Branham, 2022, No. 20 overall, San Antonio).

James has since gone on to win four NBA MVP awards, four NBA championships (including the first professional championship for Cleveland since 1964 in 2016), four NBA Finals MVPs and has been named to the NBA All-Star Game 18 times, where he has won the MVP award three times.

But on Sunday, James was back where it all started. Because after all, he is still just a kid from Akron.