Coach Mike Huff doesn’t just build basketball programs and basketball teams. Coach Huff teaches life lessons to build good people. In my personal life, Coach Huff has not just been a great coach to me but he’s been a helpful, caring, and generous mentor. However, I’m not the only one who has gotten to reap the benefits of knowing a great man and basketball coach like Coach Huff. To learn more about ways he’s been a positive influence on others lives, I talked to his son, one of his former players, and Coach Huff himself.

Said friend and former player Rashaad, “Coach Huff taught me responsibility and leadership. You need to own up to your mistakes, whether they happen in the classroom, locker room, or on the court. He taught me that to be a man you need to admit that you messed up.” Coach Huff has been teaching basketball and life lessons to kids ever since he started coaching. When I asked Rashaad what his dream was, he said he didn’t have one until he got to college. Now he says he wants to do whatever he can to stay around sports. Coach Huff has helped him do that by always inviting Rashaad to be a counselor at the basketball camps run by Coach Huff. When I asked Rashaad why he wanted to coach he told me that he loves making guys better players and better people. Rashaad also said that he likes being a point of guidance to young kids who are having trouble. To me, it sounds like Rashaad’s dream is to be Coach Huff.

I’d now like to talk about Coach Huff as a basketball coach. Ever since 1983, he’s coached everything from middle school to JV college worldwide. He’s even coached AAU. He’s seriously done just about everything. He’s tasted success in all kinds of forms. According to his son, 6’8 high sophomore Jay Huff, it’s because “His players can’t help but like his coaching style. He works you hard, but doesn’t overwork you. He teaches you well and lets your own will to win take you the rest of the way.” I also asked Rashaad about Coach Huff and his legacy at the Trinity school. Rashaad said, “He has a good legacy! Trinity’s program was brought up by Coach Huff and now that he’s left it’s not as good. Coach had multiple 20 win seasons and won the first ever varsity championship at Trinity.” As you can see, Coach has an immense track record that has been very successful.

Through basketball, Coach Huff has built strong relationships and become a mentor to many young men. Anyone who has been taught by Coach Huff, including myself, will know that his great coaching skills translate into him being a great life coach. Said Rashaad, “He always knows the right things to say. I look at him as a father figure. If you are willing to let him into your life just a little he becomes someone you can always talk to.” Coach Huff creates memorable moments on and off the court with his players. “I will never forget the smile and hug he gave me when I was reinstated to the basketball team my senior year,” recalls Rashaad. These memories are the ones that kids will cherish for life and will never forget.

Coach Huff is one heck of a coach and an even better person. He brings out the full potential in his teams and teaches life lessons to individuals so they can be the best they can be. Coach Huff said, “Success takes passion and hard work. Being part of a team means being part of something bigger than yourself.” This saying applies on the court, but is just as important off it.