Muskegon's Duren coaches final game
GRAND HAVEN -- Muskegon coach Art Duren thanked his players for a wonderful season after Friday's regional loss to Rockford.
Then he exited the locker room with a bag full of Muskegon game jerseys. Yes, the head coach lugged the jerseys to the bus.
"I've always tried to be humble," Duren said. "I pick up the jerseys and hang up the jerseys. I'm a Class A coach, but I don't want to be bigger than somebody else."
Duren picked up his Muskegon jerseys for the last time. After 13 years on the bench, Duren plans to write his letter of resignation as the boys varsity coach.
School administrators likely will ask him to reconsider. Duren will listen, but likely follow his heart and resign.
Duren, who is a Class A person, said time has become his enemy.
"My youth ministry is growing," said Duren, who serves as a local youth pastor. "I have a commitment to my church."
Muskegon's basketball program has been in good hands with Duren. He led the Big Reds to a spot in the Class A quarterfinals in 1999 and had the school buzzing again with this year's exciting 20-5 team.
I'm sure some people are glad to see Duren go. They're the ones who think Muskegon -- a football school -- should be a basketball power year in and year out, too.
They probably didn't like the fact Duren cut his teeth learning basketball as a varsity coach 13 years ago.
Duren, an all-state football player at Muskegon, traveled to Montague to watch Jim Tate's basketball practices. He sought advice from Grand Haven's Craig Taylor and picked the brains of other established coaches in the area.
More than anything, Duren tried to keep basketball in the right perspective. He wanted his alma mater to be respected for its off-court and on-court reputation.
"I wanted a team on the floor that was disciplined," Duren said. "I didn't want kids talking back to referees. I wanted us to win and lose with class."
Don't you think we need more Art Durens coaching our kids?
This is an era where kids report for 4 a.m. practices. Prep programs are treated like college programs. And there is little off-season for kids, especially the dying two and three-sport athletes.
I'm sure Duren has touched many players' lives despite not winning a state championship.
"He taught you that you must respect someone before you get respect," said DeMonte Collins, a senior who will attend Grand Valley State University on a football scholarship. "That's what he taught me over the years."
For sure, Duren has been good for Muskegon High School.
He had a rough childhood and benefited from being in sports.
"I didn't get in trouble, I stayed in trouble," he once told me about his youth.
Duren attended college, became a Christian and returned to Muskegon for a career as a teacher and coach.
It's too bad his last game ended in defeat. He deserved to lug the jerseys out of the Breslin Center.
"We lost to a real good team," Duren said. "It would have been nice to go out as a state champion, but that didn't happen."