A Man Who Got It Right…

Mention the name Walter R. Chambers to families with long connection to the tiny Coleman County community of Burkett, TX, and a hush of funereal proportions is immediately evident.

Mr. Chambers’ views on all issues— school, sports, community and otherwise—carried the day. Respected as much as any educator of his era, he is most remembered for the boys’ basketball teams he coached during his entire career.

Oh, he was superintendent, taught three math classes and was a community leader. He was there when the school opened in 1920 and wept with others when dwindling enrollment led to closure in 1957.…. ***** During the school’s 37 years, 306 students graduated. Typically, there were about a dozen boys in high school, but they scheduled teams from Texas’ largest schools, usually emerging victorious. They won three-fourths of their games.

In the early years, the school didn’t even have a bus. “We were used to car rides to out-of-town games,” remembers Dick Koenig, a 1954 graduate who has remained in the community as a third-generation farmer. Pat DeBusk, now a retired industrial cleaning professional in Houston, was on the final team, finishing his last two years of high school in Coleman. He and Koenig—first cousins—are the only remaining members of Chambers- coached teams…. ***** When the school opened, Burkett’s “sports facility” was an outdoor dirt basketball court. Interest grew, and soon all boys in high school—with one or two exceptions— went out for basketball every year. Chambers also coached girls’ teams when they had enough players. Soon Coach Chambers and his teams were the talk of the community.

Later, the Bluehawks played indoors, thanks to an abandoned old building in town. The owner didn’t charge rent, but kept the gate receipts. In 1936, voters approved a $22,000 bond issue for classrooms—and a gymnasium seating 200 fans.

That a school bond would pass by a vote of 44-4 says all one needs to know about the respect Mr. Chambers merited and maintained …. ***** To say that he was a disciplinarian would be a serious understatement. “We knew he had a big board paddle, but we never saw it used,” Koenig said. “All of us respected him too much to cause him disappointment.”

The “survivors” don’t remember any players ever getting technical fouls. And they are certain that Chambers never got one.

The discipline and hard work paid off with three trips to the state tournament, including the final year of 1957. Leader of that team was Chambers’ grandson, who also was valedictorian…. ***** Chambers’ two sons also played, and all of his kin were leading scorers.

Koenig and DeBusk agreed that no one ever criticized the coach for anything.

Remarkably, he was able to keep everybody happy on all matters….

***** “Burkett would have made it to state a few more times except for the star player over at Avoca,” DeBusk remembers. The nemesis was Max Williams—later a basketball star at Southern Methodist University. He wound up his basketball association as general manager of the Dallas Chaparrals. The Chaps, members of the old American Basketball Association, moved to San Antonio, later to become the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association.

An aside: Details of Williams’ fascinating life in sports and oil exploration are included in a wonderful new book, The Last Shot, the final biography by the late and inimitable author, Caleb Pirtle III.

Small world observation: Mr. Chambers and Max Williams were cousins!... ***** The late Fred Sanner, Abilene Reporter- News sports editor, called Chambers “the dean of Texas High School Basketball Coaches.” High praise from a sportswriter who “called ‘em the way he saw ‘em.”

By all accounts, Chambers deserved every accolade. DeBusk summed it up well. “ Players learned the game from Coach Chambers, who taught life, honor and dignity first. To all who knew him, it was the ‘gospel according to Chambers’.”

A stroke claimed the beloved educator in 1975 at age 80….. *****

Dr. Newbury, longtime university president, continues his regimen of writing and speaking.