AURORA | The city’s longest-tenured boys basketball coach is departing, as Gary Childress has decided to step down as head coach of the Grandview boys basketball team.
Childress has been the only coach Grandview’s had in 16 seasons and overall he has coached high school basketball for a total of 34 years, including other stops at Limon, Yuma, Palisade and Ferndale, Wa.
Building the program from the ground up, Childress led the Wolves to a 216-165 overall record — including 15-10 in the recently completed 2013-14 season — and guided them to three trips to the Class 5A Final Four.
Childress, who has a 455-302 career record including his other jobs, said he’d contemplated stepping down a few other times over the last six or seven years, but was fairly sure going into this year that it would be his last season.
“Telling the players was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I still feel like it is the right decision,” Childress said. “I told them that you have to move on from different stages in your life. I’ve spent 35 years coaching — including a season in college — and it’s been truly a blessing to do it that long. I just feel like at this point, it’s time to move on.
“I’m definitely stopping short of calling it retirement, but I’m not looking for any jobs. There’s just a lot of things I would like to be able to do that I’ve not been able to do because you are just so immersed during the season. I’ll give it a year here and see how it feels.”
The grind of being a basketball coach in high school — which has progressed from just season into a job that spans the summer with club basketball and all manners of open gyms and workouts — has prevented Childress from doing much else.
Even after he retired from his teaching job at the school three years ago, Childress ended up there by 10 a.m. every day, then spent countless hours running practices, coaching in games, breaking down game film and keeping gyms open for his players to work out. Without even a month of down time available, the demands completely dominated Childress’ life.
“It’s a labor of love,” said Childress, whose wife Patty remains as the school’s volleyball coach and also founded that program.
Childress said he had plenty of highlights in his time with Grandview, including the “pure joy” he felt when the 2003 Grandview team made it to the 5A semifinals for the first time in program history. He also relished being able to coach his son Spencer, who was on the Grandview team that went to the 2005 semifinals and who also spent this past season as an assistant coach.
“We appreciate the integrity and positive leadership Gary has displayed while at the helm as well as the time and effort he has given to create a well-respected program,” Grandview athletic director Jamee Ulitzky said in a statement. “Words can’t express our overall gratitude and appreciation for all of his work and the impact he has had on the countless young men who have played for him.”
The Grandview job will be posted on the Cherry Creek School District website next week and Childress believes that whoever ends up with the job will be in a great spot coaching in a prestigious league like the Centennial League.
“One of the things I’m proudest of is that I’m leaving it to where it is a super attractive job,” he said. “I think there will be some interest from some guys on our staff who are very qualified, but I’m sure there will be some guys that have some experience elsewhere who will be interested as well.”
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel.
GARY CHILDRESS’ COACHING RECORD
1979-80: Limon – 19-5 (State tournament consolation championship); 1980-81: Limon – 20-4 (State tournament 3rd place); 1981-82: Yuma – 8-9; 1982-83: Yuma – 10-9; 1983-84: Yuma – 13-8; 1984-85: Yuma – 17-7 (State tournament Great 8); 1985-86: Yuma – 17-5; 1986-87: Yuma – 17-3; 1987-88: Yuma – 12-8; 1988-89: Yuma – 15-5; 1989-90: Yuma – 23-1 (State tournament Final Four); 1990-91: Ferndale, Wash. – 13-9; 1991-92: Palisade – 8-11; 1992-93: Palisade – 11-10; 1993-94: Palisade – 9-11; 1994-95: Palisade – 9-11; 1995-96: Palisade – 13-7; 1996-97: Ferndale, Wash. – 6-14; 1997-98: Assistant at Mesa St. College; 1998-99: Grandview – 10-11; 1999-2000: Grandview – 12-9; 2000-01: Grandview – 6-14; 2001-02: Grandview – 12-9; 2002-03: Grandview – 19-5 (State tournament Final Four); 2003-04: Grandview – 6-14; 2004-05: Grandview – 18-9 (State tournament Final Four); 2005-06: Grandview – 20-7 (State tournament Final Four); 2006-07: Grandview – 14-10; 2007-08: Grandview – 13-12; 2008-09: Grandview – 11-14; 2009-2010: Grandview – 16-10 (State tournament Great 8); 2010-11: Grandview – 11-14; 2011-12: Grandview – 16-9 (State tournament Sweet 16); 2012-13: Grandview – 16-8; 2013-14: Grandview – 15-10 (State tournament Sweet 16) — Total: 455-302
