All-American basketball player ... and very soon, Ron Cox will become a WIBCA hall-of-fame coach

Cox won 477 games in 32 seasons as the boys basketball coach at Tekoa-Oakesdale and Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls (1978-2020)

Ron Cox won 447 games at Tekoa and Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls High Schools, and will be a 2024 inductee into the WIBCA hall of fame. / Photo courtesy of Ron Cox

If you were solely aware of Ron Cox's coaching accomplishments on paper - 447 wins over 32 seasons of coaching at Tekoa and Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls High Schools - you'd think he had a pretty good handle on things.

But meeting all 6-foot-6 of him in person? That reveals a layer that you just can't get through online research.

Cox's larger-than-life presence as a Class 'B' record-holder at Coulee City High School, as a former All-American player at Eastern Washington University and as an NBA draftee certainly came out during his years on the bench.

On Tuesday at Gonzaga University, Cox will be inducted into the Washington Basketball Coaches Association (WIBCA) hall of fame as one of four coaches in this class, joining North Central's Jay Webber, Napavine's Rex Stanley and Columbia River's David Long.

"I think I had an advantage going into small towns in eastern Washington, and to small schools with the success I had as a player," Cox said. "It follows you. From that, I had a level of buy-in from players, and they were excited and willing to learn."

Shortly after being hired at middling Tekoa High School in 1978, the school began enjoying immediate success, reachng the Class 'B' title game in 1982, losing to Reardan and legendary coach Gene Smith.

And the school kept winning, emerging in the early 1990s as one of the premier small-school programs, led by all-state guard Carl Crader, who went on to play at EWU and Gonzaga.

Crader recalled having Cox as his coach for much of his formative years before entering high school.

"As a fourth grader, imagine, at 6-6, looking up to a mountain (in Cox)," Crader said. "That played a big part in his authority and demanding respect."

In 1993, the combined Tekoa-Oakesdale completed a 25-3 season by winning the Class 2B championship with a 63-46 victory over Morton.

"Ron was a guy who had his teams very well-prepared," said Ken Lindgren, who was Cox's assistant coach on the state championship squad. "He expected a lot out of kids and worked them pretty hard. But he wanted them to be the best basketball players they could be - and the best people they could be, too."

In 1999, Cox was hired to take over the program at Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls where he served in two separate coaching stints. The Eagles' best state finish was sixth place in 2004 at the Class 2A championships.

Cox retired from coaching i 2020, and has been living in Arizona with his wife, Betty.

"It is special to be mixed in with so many names I have heard about and coached against," said Cox, who estimated he coached against 20 coaches already in the WIBCA hall of fame.