TAKING STOCK: River Oaks coach and former ULM star earns milestone win
By Keith Prince, The News-Star
There were no balloons or cakes or huge celebration and this time River Oaks coach Roger Stockton didn’t get a nation-wide radio mention from Paul Harvey as he did back in 1983 when he won his 300th game.
Still, Stockton does admit that last week’s win over Prairie View — his 500th career victory in boys basketball — brought back a few memories.
No doubt, it should have been a moment of reflection for the veteran mentor, who turned 60 yesterday. After all, 500 wins don’t come along every day. “Doc (Dr. Tom Middleton, River Oaks principal) did announce it after the game but it was no big deal. My family knew it and my wife and two of my daughters were at the game, but I didn’t expect anything special,” said Stockton, who has never basked much in the spotlight although he has always been successful in the game of basketball. In fact, since Stockton’s high school playing days when he twice made All-State at Holly Ridge, on through his ULM Hall of Fame playing and coaching career, this classy gentleman’s life has been intertwined with basketball. “I owe the game a lot,” said Stockton this week. “In fact, I can’t imagine my life without the game. For starters, without basketball I would never have been able to get a college education. “And, then there are all of my coaches. Every one of them has played a part in shaping my life and, of course, how I coach the game,” he said, reeling off names such as his prep coach Fay (T-Model) Thurman, and ULM coaches Lenny Fant, Jam Mahoney, Benny Hollis and Mike Vining. He then added, “And I definitely put Linda Harper in that group, too. I enjoyed the seven years I served as her assistant at ULM. We had great talent then and I learned a lot about coaching from her. A lot of my philosophies about the game came from all the coaches I’ve been associated with.” Stockton said basketball is much like life. “In a team sport you learn to work together, depend on each other, make sacrifices, accept responsibility and learn the importance of leadership,” he said. “Really, it is like being in a family and I treasure all of my time in the game.” Stockton has always tried to pass along all the positive aspects of the game to his players. “Winning games is fun and important as you build a team and help young people gain self-confidence,” Stockton said. But my goal has also always been to help kids learn a lot more than just basketball.” The 6-5 coach, who ended his ULM playing career in 1971 at No. 3 on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,309 points, twice made all-conference for his work and will always be remembered for one of the school’s top individual performances ever when he scored 43 points in an 85-80 upset victory at Ole Miss. He made 19 field goals that night, a figure still tied for the most field goals ever in a game by a ULM player.A former ULM teammate, current Carroll coach Jesse Burnette, said recently, “Roger was a great player. He could shoot as well as anybody. And I still remember the night at Ole Miss when he lit it up and led us to a win in a big situation under adverse conditions.”Burnette said that Stockton carried over that competitiveness into his coaching career.“He’s always been very organized and believes in taking care of details,” Burnette said. “He’s an excellent Xs and Os kind of coach, but also his kids respect him and play hard for him. “I coached against him for a lot of years and always respected what he did. Even more important to me, he’s been a great friend for the last 35 years and always a super gentleman. I didn’t know he was getting his 500th win but I’m not really surprised. I certainly offer my congratulations,” Stockton’s total reflects only his wins while coaching boys’ teams. He has another 182 wins as a girls’ coach, 10 years at River Oaks with a 107-75 mark and a five-year stint as the head coach at ULM from 1990-95 when his teams were 76-71.In boys basketball, Stockton was 221-63 at Epps from 1972-1978, 87-45 at Bastrop from 1979-83 and now has been guiding the Mustangs for the past 12 years while going 194-114. Stockton said much of his success — and definitely his longevity in the coaching profession — stems from the support he has received from his family. “In order to coach, you have to have an understanding family because it demands so much time away from them. My wife (Cathy, who he began dating in high school and married while in college) has always been understanding and supportive of what I do. I couldn’t have had a better partner for this journey and I appreciate her. “You know, there have also been plenty of nights when we didn’t win but Cathy has always been there. Every coach needs that kind of support system because it can get pretty tough at times.” But after 38 years in coaching, this is one coach who definitely has plenty of wonderful memories. At least 500, for sure.
There were no balloons or cakes or huge celebration and this time River Oaks coach Roger Stockton didn’t get a nation-wide radio mention from Paul Harvey as he did back in 1983 when he won his 300th game.
Still, Stockton does admit that last week’s win over Prairie View — his 500th career victory in boys basketball — brought back a few memories.
No doubt, it should have been a moment of reflection for the veteran mentor, who turned 60 yesterday. After all, 500 wins don’t come along every day. “Doc (Dr. Tom Middleton, River Oaks principal) did announce it after the game but it was no big deal. My family knew it and my wife and two of my daughters were at the game, but I didn’t expect anything special,” said Stockton, who has never basked much in the spotlight although he has always been successful in the game of basketball. In fact, since Stockton’s high school playing days when he twice made All-State at Holly Ridge, on through his ULM Hall of Fame playing and coaching career, this classy gentleman’s life has been intertwined with basketball. “I owe the game a lot,” said Stockton this week. “In fact, I can’t imagine my life without the game. For starters, without basketball I would never have been able to get a college education. “And, then there are all of my coaches. Every one of them has played a part in shaping my life and, of course, how I coach the game,” he said, reeling off names such as his prep coach Fay (T-Model) Thurman, and ULM coaches Lenny Fant, Jam Mahoney, Benny Hollis and Mike Vining. He then added, “And I definitely put Linda Harper in that group, too. I enjoyed the seven years I served as her assistant at ULM. We had great talent then and I learned a lot about coaching from her. A lot of my philosophies about the game came from all the coaches I’ve been associated with.” Stockton said basketball is much like life. “In a team sport you learn to work together, depend on each other, make sacrifices, accept responsibility and learn the importance of leadership,” he said. “Really, it is like being in a family and I treasure all of my time in the game.” Stockton has always tried to pass along all the positive aspects of the game to his players. “Winning games is fun and important as you build a team and help young people gain self-confidence,” Stockton said. But my goal has also always been to help kids learn a lot more than just basketball.” The 6-5 coach, who ended his ULM playing career in 1971 at No. 3 on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,309 points, twice made all-conference for his work and will always be remembered for one of the school’s top individual performances ever when he scored 43 points in an 85-80 upset victory at Ole Miss. He made 19 field goals that night, a figure still tied for the most field goals ever in a game by a ULM player.A former ULM teammate, current Carroll coach Jesse Burnette, said recently, “Roger was a great player. He could shoot as well as anybody. And I still remember the night at Ole Miss when he lit it up and led us to a win in a big situation under adverse conditions.”Burnette said that Stockton carried over that competitiveness into his coaching career.“He’s always been very organized and believes in taking care of details,” Burnette said. “He’s an excellent Xs and Os kind of coach, but also his kids respect him and play hard for him. “I coached against him for a lot of years and always respected what he did. Even more important to me, he’s been a great friend for the last 35 years and always a super gentleman. I didn’t know he was getting his 500th win but I’m not really surprised. I certainly offer my congratulations,” Stockton’s total reflects only his wins while coaching boys’ teams. He has another 182 wins as a girls’ coach, 10 years at River Oaks with a 107-75 mark and a five-year stint as the head coach at ULM from 1990-95 when his teams were 76-71.In boys basketball, Stockton was 221-63 at Epps from 1972-1978, 87-45 at Bastrop from 1979-83 and now has been guiding the Mustangs for the past 12 years while going 194-114. Stockton said much of his success — and definitely his longevity in the coaching profession — stems from the support he has received from his family. “In order to coach, you have to have an understanding family because it demands so much time away from them. My wife (Cathy, who he began dating in high school and married while in college) has always been understanding and supportive of what I do. I couldn’t have had a better partner for this journey and I appreciate her. “You know, there have also been plenty of nights when we didn’t win but Cathy has always been there. Every coach needs that kind of support system because it can get pretty tough at times.” But after 38 years in coaching, this is one coach who definitely has plenty of wonderful memories. At least 500, for sure.
Roger Stockton’s total reflects only his wins while coaching boys’ teams. He has another 182 wins as a girls’ coach, 10 years at River Oaks with a 107-75 mark and a five-year stint as the head coach at ULM from 1990-95 when his teams were 76-71. In boys basketball, Stockton was 221-63 at Epps from 1972-1978, 87-45 at Bastrop from 1979-83 and now has been guiding the Mustangs for the past 12 years while going 194-114.
