This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: CURRY, DONEY, NELSON Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/INB.2ACE/1405.1 Message Board Post: Les Curry Tournament honors Les Curry, By Chris Saur/Enterprise correspondent When the first Les Curry Invitational tips off today at the Davis High School gymnasium, many in the crowd will be remembering the man for whom the tournament is named. Curry, who died tragically in an auto accident this past summer, left behind not only a loving family but a legacy that can be seen throughout athletics in this community. A fixture at the helm of the DHS boys' basketball team from 1967 to 1984, Curry is almost certainly the schools all-time winningest coach - though records of that kind are not kept by DHS. However, his impact as a coach and a human being is probably best seen by looking at how the people he coached and coached with have gone on to be successful. Rick Stromberg, former DHS athletic director and the man who took over as varsity coach after Curry retired, headed up the junior varsity team for 14 years under Curry. "He was just a great person to work for and with; he knew a lot of basketball," Stromberg said. "His teams always played hard, and he had a great reputation with the coaches in the area as a well-prepared coach." Curry's sons Mike and Ryan each played for him and, not coincidentally, have gone on to be successful coaches in their own right. Mike returned to Montana, where the family was originally from as well as where Les was named one of the top 100 athletes in the state's history after playing basketball at Montana State. Mike Curry followed in his father's footsteps as a successful coach, winning several state championships. Ryan, the younger of the two, isn't far behind. Using much of what he learned from his father, Ryan became one of the youngest head coaches in the history of Nevada Union's boys' basketball team and now leads a team in Southern California. Their sister Denise was the most successful of the bunch in terms of playing, as she starred at UCLA. She became the schools all-time leader in points, including one Lew Alcindor. She then went on to win two gold medals with the United States women's basketball team and during the 1980s considered one of the best female players in the world. While Les Curry's children went on to success in the sport of basketball, there are no shortage of other people that the coach inspired. Bill Towne, who has coached basketball from junior high to DHS girls' varsity, played for Curry from 1972-74 and coached with him in 1983-84. "He was a very respected man, you always knew who was in charge," Towne said. "We knew that he understood basketball very well, and he was a disciplinarian. He would just give you that stare. But he was the kind of guy who the kids would have done just about anything he asked them." >From Stromberg to Towne, the list goes on as current varsity baseball coach and former basketball coach Dan Ariola, former football coach Marc Hicks and former Athletic Director Brian Ziser, all learned from Curry. "If you played against his team you always knew it was going to be a tough game, he got a lot out of his (players)," Stromberg remembered. "He really was a great person as well as a great coach." The DHS boys' team, now headed by Dan Gonzalez play Hogan tonight at 8:45 p.m. DHS is lead by its top scorer, Levi Wyniarczuk. Fans just might see a little of touch of Curry in his game, since Levi's father, Roland, played for Curry as well. (Obituary from the "The Davis Enterprise," Thursday, December 15, 2003.)