Coach Donnie Roberts winds down final season
Coach Donnie Roberts watches his Red Bay Lady Tigers in Area action Monday.
By Bart Moss for the FCT
A long and storied career is coming to a close. Sometime in the next few weeks, legendary Red Bay girls basketball Coach Donnie Roberts will coach his last game. It might come in the subregion next week; on the floor of Wallace State Community College, host of the Northwest Regionals; or on the arena floor of the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center later this month. If Roberts has his way, it will be the latter.
After a career that has spanned 45 years, Roberts has only one thing on his mind: “I want our girls to win one more state championship,” said Roberts, who was inducted into the Alabama High School Hall of Fame in 2014.
To many that would sound like coach-speak. For many coaches, that is all it would be. But for Roberts, he means it. Roberts’ teams have been to the state finals eight times, coming away with four championship trophies – the most recent was in 2015. His Tigers lost the title game last year, having to settle for a “red map” trophy instead of a “blue map” trophy. His teams have also won 19 area titles.
Roberts’ singular focus on winning hasn’t allowed him much time to get too emotional as the end nears.
“It really hasn’t hit me yet,” said Roberts. “As a coach, I am always focused on the next game. I am focused on putting our girls in a position to win. That is what it has been about since 1972.
Roberts talks with his team during last year’s basketball season.
“I’m not sure it will fully hit me until it is over,” he added. “I hope it is over when our girls are holding another state championship trophy. It might come sooner. I hope not. Either way it turns out, I have no regrets. I have always tried to do my best.
“I can tell you one thing: this has been the fastest year of my life.”
Roberts came to Red Bay from Tremont, Miss., in 1982, and he has been fixture on the Lady Tigers bench since. His teams have been a dominating force in girls basketball in Franklin County. Under Roberts’ leadership, the Red Bay Lady Tigers have won 27 Franklin County championships, including seven in a row.
That dominance has led Red Bay to develop rivalries outside of Franklin County. The one Roberts singled out as the most intense was the heated rivalry with Hatton from 2000-2003.
“Man, that was a rough rivalry, said Roberts. “They were a year younger than out starters. Every game was intense and hard-fought. We couldn’t stand each other. People from all over would come to watch those games. But when it was over, a lot of our girls and their girls became best friends.”
One reason for Red Bay’s success is its close proximity to the Mississippi state line, where they have been playing competitive girls basketball much longer. It has also created a rivalry with a school not too far from Red Bay across the state line – Belmont.
“When I came to Red Bay, we had never beat a Belmont team,” Roberts said. “Mississippi teams were always better than Alabama teams simply because they had been playing the game longer. When we finally did beat them, it was a disgrace to them.
“Our rivalry has been a very healthy rivalry. It is not bitter. We have great respect for each other, and it has always been a great game to be a part of.”
Roberts has also encountered some coaching rivalries along the way and developed a respect for many of his foes.
“I’ve been able to beat some great coaches, but I was never able to get Larry Sinyard at Lauderdale County,” said Roberts. “They have had some outstanding teams through the years. I have a lot of respect for their current coach Brant Llewellyn. He has an outstanding program, and we’ve had some great games through the years.
“They have also built, arguably, the best girls basketball tournament in Alabama we’ve played in for many years.” The Lauderdale Invitational Tournament, now rebranded the Keith Davis Memorial Tournament, features some of the most competitive teams in Alabama and Tennessee every Christmas break. Roberts’ Red Bay team has been a fixture in that tournament with much success.
“In 2003 we won that tournament by beating East Limestone, Lauderdale County, Deshler and Lauderdale County. Deshler and Lauderdale County went on to win the state tournament, and we did not. That was frustrating.”
There is a mutual respect and admiration from the two championship coaches.
“Coach Roberts and I have been friends for many years,” said Lauderdale County girls Coach Brandt Llewellyn. “I have the utmost respect for him. He’s the best – plain and simple. What he has done in his career has been amazing.
“Watching his teams play has been a privilege. They have always been so disciplined and fundamentally sound,” Llewellyn added. “Coach Roberts has always been a mentor to me. We’ve always used each other when scouting common opponents. He will be truly missed in the coaching ranks.”
Anyone who has watched Roberts coach a basketball game knows how intense he can be, and sometimes that gets him in trouble with officials.
“There are good coaches and good officials. I appreciate an official being on top of the game and knowing what they are doing,” Roberts said. “I will tell you this: most of the technical fouls I have gotten, I have deserved.”
Roberts has won an astounding 71 percent of the games he’s coached, with a career record of 883-355. Even with all of that success, he can still dwell on those games that got away. “There have been many games and championships lost that have ripped my heart out. I have lost some games on my own. Those are the games it hard to let go of – the ones I feel like it was totally my fault we lost.”
How has Roberts been able to achieve success year in and year out?
“Everyone knows I stresses teamwork. It is never about any one person,” Roberts said. “Our goal is always to win a state championship. That is what it is all about.
“We build our team around our strengths. You are always going to have one, or two, or maybe even three players that might be a little more talented or skilled than others, but it will always take the five on the floor working together to be successful. It takes the girls who come off the bench. It takes the girls who may not get to play much but play big roles in practice. It will always be a team effort to win at any level.”
Along the way, Roberts has been lucky to coach his sister and his two daughters, Laura Beth and Leah.
“It was no problem at all to my two girls,” said Roberts. “They knew what was expected of them. I think they also knew they had to do a little more because they were my daughters. One thing we never did was bring the game home with us. It was one of the great blessings of my life to be able to coach them. They had really good teammates that didn’t make it hard on them either.”
Roberts’ daughter Laura Beth Bailey, who is now a successful pharmaceutical salesperson, said playing for her father was one of the great blessings of her life.
“The memories of playing for him just seem like a natural part of my life,” said Bailey, who played on Red Bay’s 1993 state championship team and still holds the state record for most points scored in a state tournament through all classifications at 48. “Looking back over 20 years later, I realize what a big deal it was to win a state tournament with my dad.
“He has been such a wonderful father, teacher and grandfather,” Bailey continued. “He has taught me so much – self-motivation, self-discipline, hard work and how to be a good winner and good loser. These are all lessons I carry with me today through my career and as a mother.”
Bailey shares this same connection with her sister, Leah Torisky, who is a science teacher at Red Bay High School. Torisky was part of Red Bay’s 2001 state championship team.
“He’s my hero because he’s my dad,” said Torisky. “He was always able to keep Coach and Dad separate. It wasn’t always about basketball. I don’t think I ever appreciated what we went through together as a teenager, but now I cherish all the memories we made together.”
Bailey and Torisky share a common bond with most children of coaches: they have an extended family of brothers or sisters who have played for their father.
Courtney Duncan Channell, who played with Torisky on the 2001 state championship team, said it’s going to be hard seeing a Red Bay girls basketball team coached by anyone other than Roberts.
“It’s hard to think of Red Bay basketball without him,” said Duncan. “He has been such a huge part of my life on and off the court. He taught me so much about life through basketball. It was so much more than winning and losing; he taught me about character and how to be the best person I could be. I am so thankful I got to play for him.”
Haley Lewey Hand, another member of the 2001 state championship team, also has high praise for her former mentor.
“I have the utmost respect for Coach Roberts,” said Hand. “He taught me so much on the court and prepared me for life. His phrase ‘excuses only satisfy those who use them’ taught me to be accountable for my own mistakes, whether it was on the court or in life. There will never be another like him.”
Pamela Abernathy Oetinger, who played for Roberts from 1987-1990, said the impact Roberts made on her transcended basketball.
“Coach Roberts’ encouragement and dedication to the game had a big impact on my life,” said Oetinger, who resides in Italy. “Whether it was teaching me how to shoot a three-pointer or landing that specific job, he always said nothing would come easy and anything worth having required hard work and dedication.”
Roberts’ career, although defined by girls basketball, also had an impact on friends and coworkers off the court. One of those is his longtime friend Sonny Glasgow. Glasgow met Roberts in 1984 while refereeing a junior high basketball game at Tharptown Junior High School.
“I will never forget that game,” said Glasgow. “Red Bay was leading by 35 points, and Roberts was pacing up and down the sideline coaching the third string as if the game were tied. He is always intense from the opening tip to the final horn. His practices are intense and focused. He has everything broken down into ten minute segments with every detail written down on paper. He wastes no time.”
Glasgow would later become a coworker with Roberts at Red Bay High School, where they established a long and enduring friendship.
“One of coach’s best traits is to give praise to make a person feel great,” said Glasgow. “He is known for winning in basketball, but people don’t know how good of a teacher he was. He treated everyone the same. It didn’t matter how much money you had, how much social status you had, if you were athletic or not – he treated everyone with the same respect and dignity.”
Of course, no coach can have sustained success without a supportive spouse. Roberts credits his wife Janet’s enduring supportiveness to his success. “Janet has been wonderful,” said Roberts. “She has been in my shadow for a long time. It’s amazing what she has done. She’s done all the hard work. I can’t thank her enough for being there and being by my side and supporting me through my career.”
So, when the end does come, how will Roberts respond?
“For 45 years basketball has been all that has been on my mind,” said Roberts. “That is the way it will be up to the end – whenever it comes. So, I don’t know how I will respond. I do know this: I have eight wonderful grandchildren who are going to get a whole lot more attention. I am going to support my family. They have supported me for all these years, so I owe it to them.
“I’m sure I will do a little crappie fishing,” added Roberts. “I might even take up deer hunting again.”
