‘On the Mount Rushmore of Arizona coaches’: Great basketball coach Royce Youree dies at 88
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Royce Youree, considered one of the greatest Arizona high school basketball coaches of all time, even after his beloved Phoenix East closed 42 years ago, died on Friday after struggling for several years with failing health.
Youree, who played in college for Arizona State, turned 88 last Saturday.
Youree led East to five state titles in the biggest classification before the Phoenix Union High School District school closed in 1982 due to declining enrollment. Even as enrollment declined, his East teams were still among the best in the state.
East went 301-56 between 1969 to 1982 under Youree’s watch. His 1980-81 team is considered one of the greatest in Arizona high school history. That team went 28-8, finished ranked eighth in the nation, and won by an average scoring margin of 38.4 points.
“Tradition,” Youree told The Arizona Republic in 2014, recalling the day East closed. “Everyone wanted to keep on a great tradition. I was most proud of our relationships we had from player to player and player to coach. I really liked the way the kids were about winning and not individual stats.”
Youree was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. His health had been failing since 2018 when he underwent brain surgery to alleviate bleeding, after a fall.
He was visited on his birthday by Tom Bennett and Sam Ballard, two of his closest friends. Ballard played for Youree at East, then became an assistant under him, and, when Youree joined Tom Bennett’s staff at Mesa Community College in the 1980s, Ballard followed.
Youree helped Ballard while he was leading the MCC men’s basketball program in the 2010s.
“I saw him last Saturday and I knew that time was short,” Ballard said in a text. “I’m thankful that I had a chance to squeeze his hand one more last time and tell him that I loved him.
“Other than my own father, he was as close to me as any man in my life.”
Gilbert Perry coach Sam Duane Jr., whose father coached against Youree when Sam Sr. was leading Tempe Corona del Sol, says Youree is “on the Mount Rushmore of Arizona coaches.”
“I learned many things that I still value in my coaching from being around him or just watching his teams play,” Duane Jr. said.
Youree was a big influence on many great coaches, including current Saint Mary’s College coach Randy Bennett, Tom Bennett’s son.
Youree’s defensive teaching were second to none. He got all of his teams to buy into defense and how that led to great offense. He also had an ability to connect with players, making them feel loved. His teams were all about family bonds that lasted a lifetime.
With Youree on the bench with him as co-head coach at MCC, the Thunderbirds finished third in the nation in 1987.
“Royce taught about things in detail,” said Tom Bennett, who had a 19-year, Hall of Fame career coaching at MCC. “He put a lot of emphasis on big effort. He thought about the game in detail and he was good about figuring out things.”
Youree played basketball at Arizona State from 1955-58. He entered the ASU Hall of Fame in 1995. He was a senior on Ned Wulk’s first ASU team in 1957-58, and made two free throws with three seconds left to beat Arizona 78-76 to secure the Border Conference championship.
“Royce was one of the best coaches in the country with his success at East and MCC,” said former Mesa Mountain View coach Gary Ernst, the state’s all-time winningest boys basketball coach, whose 1981 Chandler team lost to East 68-38 in the state championship game. “Such a great competitor on game night and a real friend after the competition.
“Proud to have coached against him and also to call him a friend.”
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert
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