Coach honored with friends at dinner

Coach Pleasants was surprised when he walked into the banquet room at the Coulee Dam Community Church to be greeted by dozens supporters there to wish him well and honor his time as a Lady Raider coach.

Wallace "Peewee" Pleasants coached the Lake Roosevelt High School girls' basketball program for 12 years, ending in 2022 at the state tournament in Spokane, each year punctuated with motto to drive home a lesson.

His coaching career started 24 years ago, when he coached his son Mathew's third-grade AAU team.

"From 'One Game at a Time,' beginning in his AAU days and blossoming into 'Losing's No Fun When You Never Win" and ending with 'Work,' his mottos have always been the core of his coaching technique," said Jaci Gross, who recommended him as head coach.

The evening was anchored by a meal among his fans, fellow coaches, players and confidants and family.

And memories fond and funny. Like the three times Gross recounted when the bus broke down getting the team from some far-flung part of the state to another, just another lesson learned along the basketball way.

"He's always been big on using basketball as a tool to gain the skills that will transfer to what a person wants to do in life." Gross said. "He dedicated his time to prepare them for high school basketball and life in general."

The Colville Tribes honored Pleasants with a blanket embossed with a tribal emblem. And Grand Coulee Dam School District Directors Ken Stanger and Shannon Nicholson presented Peewee, Mathew and Roman Pleasants with sweatshirts with that Losing's No Fun motto on them.

Gross credited a long list of people who had helped to make the Lady Raiders a team, from bus drivers to opposing team coaches and friends and the players themselves.

Peewee put a point on that.

"I appreciate all the things they did, all the love they gave back to us as coaches," he said. They made my life beautiful, they really did."

"I got nothing but love for Lake Roosevelt and all the girls and boys that done played for me," the coach said.

That's what can come from building a life "one game at a time."