Prairie Ronde, LA: It was packed out inside the Northwest High School gymnasium as the community, family, friends, and former players came to honor and celebrate coach Donald E. Dupree.
As his students call him, Coach Dupree has had countless accomplishments, but having his name coined to the gym where he coached for 21 years is his biggest one yet.
"It was a 1999 team that was the first team to make it to the final four, and that was a great experience," recalled Donald E Dupree as he looked back at his 41-decade career.
In the eyes of this St. Landry Parish community, the 74-year-old stands as a legend. Coach Dupree is thankful to have his peers, family, and friends witness the school name the basketball court in his honor.
"It is such a blessing for them to remember me this way, and I will forever remember that," said Coach Dupree.
Coach Dupree has led hundreds of athletes across the court and off.
You have to love it to stay in it that long," said Coach
Dupree's career dates back to the early 1970s when he coached basketball in Plaisance. In the late 1990s, his tenure continued even during a period where three high schools, Plaisance, Lawtell, and Grand Prarie High, merged into one, a challenging period.
"It was a rough time; we had a lot of building to do to put the three schools together--- and it wasn't easy," said Dupree.
He was the first coach to set foot in the new consolidated school.
"But we all had to come together as one, and I think athletics brought the three schools together," said Dupree.
He would coach boys' and girls' basketball at Northwest High School for the next two decades.
" My dad was still at work, and Coach Dupree would be the one to come and pick me up and bring me to practice," said Jefferson Parish School Superintendant Dr. James Gray, a former Plaisance high school player.
"I watched Coach Dupree as a kindergarten and first grader and watched great Plaisance teams when district championships, so I grew up in a community always wanting to play for him," said Chris Edwards, NWHS Football Coach.
"At the same time, he was like a father figure to all of us," said Dr. Gray.
Randy McDaniel, his former coaching assistant, says he learned much from the coach.
"His patience with the students taught me how to sit back and relax a little bit," said McDaniel.
"He was known as the big, tall basketball coach, a tall guy with dark glasses, so it an honor to live long enough to play for a legend like him," said Coach Edwards.
For decades, his name will ring out for the next generation of coaches and students.
