Dick McConnell, who coached Sahuaro High School to four state basketball championships between 1970-2001, died Tuesday in Phoenix. He was 89.
McConnell was the first basketball coach in Sahuaro history, a job he kept for 39 years while winning 774 games, the most in Arizona history until Mesa Mountain View coach Gary Ernst surpassed that total in 2012.Β
McConnell's teams were state champions in 1970, 1982, 2000 and 2001.
A graduate of Topeka High School and Washburn University in Kansas, McConnell got his first coaching job in Arizona at Tombstone High School. After one season, he was hired to coach the junior college and freshman teams at Rincon. He was hired by Sahuaro in 1968.
MORE: For Tucson coaching legend Dick McConnell, it was always 'friends first'
McConnell is the patriarch of one of Arizona's first basketball families. His son, Rick, has won more than 600 games as a high school coach in Phoenix.Β Rick's sons, Matt and Mickey, played at Central Arizona College and St. Mary's, respectively. Mickey McConnell was the 2011 West Coast Conference player of the year.
