‘He would do anything in the world.’ Coach and teacher left mark on two Coast cities.
Lorenzo Wright’s rise from a Gulfport High School star basketball player to head coach at Pascagoula can be linked back to his sophomore year of high school and the impression left by one coach.
Robert Dees, who died this past Saturday at the age of 65 following a lengthy illness, was Wright’s junior varsity coach at the time.
“Just the way he carried himself, how he coached. I do the same thing,” Wright told the Sun Herald on Tuesday in a phone interview. “He was a no-nonsense guy who pushed you to be the best. That’s what I remember. He gave it to you straight.”
Dees, who also taught science, served as a boys basketball assistant to Gerald Austin and Bryan Caldwell at Gulfport after previously serving as the head coach at Gulfport Central Junior High School. He left GHS in 1994 to begin teaching at Ocean Springs High School.
Dees later became the head coach for the Greyhounds, working in that role until 1999.
“He was a great teacher,” said Tom Bryant, who served for one season as Dees’ assistant at OSHS. “He had a very good camaraderie with the students and he was well respected. He was a heck of a teacher.”
Robert Dees was a dedicated coach
Dees, who retired from teaching about five years ago, is remembered by his former players and co-workers as a man who was willing to go the extra mile to make sure things were done the right way.
“He was very loyal, hard working,” Austin said. “He would do anything in the world and you didn’t have to tell him to do anything. He would just do it. You could count on him and the kids loved him. He pushed them, you know.”
Austin replaced the legendary Bert Jenkins as the Gulfport head coach, and he elevated Dees from the junior high to serve as his assistant. Dees brought an intensity and a focus to his job, always looking for ways to improve the team — sometimes to the point of distraction.
Austin recalls one particularly engrossing conversation he and Dees had one night on the way back from a game at West Jones.
“We got to talking basketball and how we can make the team better,” Austin said. “Robert was driving and I was sitting right behind him. All of a sudden, we missed the turn. We went all the way to Picayune. We went through Hattiesburg and eventually saw a Picayune sign. He said, ‘Gosh, we missed the road.’ That lets you know how dedicated he was. We got to talking about how to make the team better and he didn’t let up.”
100% Gulfport
When Austin left to take the Jackson Prep job after the 1992-93 season, Harrison Central head coach and GHS alum Bryan Caldwell was chosen to be his replacement.
Many players on the roster, including Wright, were disappointed to see Dees passed over for the job.
“We were pushing for him, hoping,” Wright said. “We felt bad when he didn’t get it. We just knew the kind of guy he was. We hated it for him, but we understood later about the the nature of the business.”
Even though he didn’t get the job, Dees hung around for one more season at Gulfport as an assistant to Caldwell.
“He was instrumental to helping me adjust from Harrison Central to Gulfport,” Caldwell said. “I’m forever grateful for his assistance and his loyalty.
“He was an excellent basketball coach. He was just a tremendous guy and a really good science teacher. He was just a real pleasure to work with.”
Not only is Dees part of an impressive brethren of Gulfport hoops coaches, he was also a star basketball player for his hometown high school in the early ’70s.
“Robert Dees was 100% Gulfport,” Caldwell said. “He loved his hometown and he loved Gulfport High School. We should all appreciate that.”
