Lives touched measure Krause's career

He didn't invent the term student-athlete but for former Eastern Washington basketball coach Jerry Krause, one might think so because rare is the time it is not part of a conversation.

Krause, 79, who "retired" as much as he knows how this past spring from active coaching, will still be connected to the game in a variety of ways, all of them in some form of teaching or mentoring.

His career locally stretches nearly 50 years to 1967 when he took over a struggling Eastern Washington State College program and ended up as the basketball coach with the next best record behind the legendary Red Reese. For Krause, some of his fondest memories are of those who carry on his teacher-coach tradition.

One of those is Ron Cox, one of just two players in EWU basketball history to have their jersey number retired. Cox's other notable accomplishments include being the school's all-time leading scorer.

But it was what he did after leaving Eastern that endeared Cox, a four-year All-American and EWU Athletic Hall-of-Fame member to Krause.

"Ron Cox, I was so proud of him," Krause said of Cox. But after having to step away from the game for a while, Cox, who went on to become a member of the Washington state basketball coaches Hall of Fame, is returning to the bench at Lakeside High School in Suncrest.

"You have such a gift, I've watched your teams, I've watched you teach and coach, you care so much," Krause told Cox recently when he showed up at a summer camp. With three of Cox's grandkids in school there was extra incentive to return.

Krause partially credits his Nebraska upbringing for an ability to connect with many small-town recruits he led to Eastern.

One of Krause's best finds and memorable recruits, however, came from the opposite end of the basketball universe. Eddie Waters is the son of Maxine Waters , a former member of the United States Congress from California.

Krause tried as he might to convince Waters to finish school, needing just one class to do so. He was unable to do so at the time but the importance of the degree to Waters sunk in later in life.

Waters opted to take a year and a half to finish the degree years later at a California state school. He is now a coach and teacher at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, his alma mater.

"Those were two guys who took totally different paths but eventually I think I had a permanent, positive effect on their lives - both of them in different ways," Krause said.

Not all of Krause's memorable recruits settled in the classroom or on the court.

When Krause arrived at Eastern he was a one-man recruiting department. It was a far cry from today in college athletics, Krause said.

"They have all these academic support people today, I was the academic support director," Krause said. "I took study hall two nights a week. I checked their grades and made sure they were on track."

"We had a pipeline into Chicago into some of the worst schools you can imagine," Krause said. "I went into this one place, the kid's name was Melvin Bradley, a graduate of Eastern and now a successful businessman in Seattle."

Krause made a home visit all the way from Washington state that impressed Bradley's mother. "It came down to whether she trusted me or not," Krause recalled of the visit.

"Now if Melvin comes here will you guarantee he gets a college education?" Krause was asked as the mom looked him right in the eye. "I said 'you can count on it, I will do everything in my power to make sure that he learns and comes out of there with a college education.'"

Bradley got his degree and his mother was so proud she made the trip west on a bus to attend his graduation, Krause said.

And then there was Roger Guiney, a native of Ireland, and a former teacher and coach in Garfield-Palouse High School. Recently retired, Guiney now runs a pair of massive family ranches and dabbles in ownership of a pub back in County Cork in his homeland.

Krause met Guiney at his first basketball summer camp staged at tiny Notre Dame University in Nelson, British Columbia. The camp was coach-heavy with a ratio of about one coach for every two students.

Guiney called Krause to ask if he could bring a few kids to the camp. "Yes, but I can't take them for free," he told him.

The two met in Spokane for the journey north. He was driving a pickup truck with a homemade camper, Krause said. They got about halfway to Nelson and Guiney opened up the back of the camper and there are 10 kids inside, Krause said - nearly half the enrollment of the camp and all paid for by Guiney.

"That guy, his heart was in the right place," Krause said. "I feel so good about having some impact on him."

Along with part time work at Gonzaga, Krause will continue to help propel a pet project called, "Be Like Coach," - named in honor of Krause's friend and mentor, the legendary John Wooden - onto the national, and maybe international stage.

There's also his lifelong dedication to fitness along side companion Cathy Kelly. Retirement in its traditional sense for some people means downtime, but not for Krause.

"You just find other things to do," he said.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].