CREDIT: FANSHAWE ATHLETICS
Former Fanshawe men's basketball head coach Glenn Johnston will be honoured on December 1 during halftime of the men's basketball game.

At the end of last season, Fanshawe's men's basketball coach Glenn Johnston walked off the court for the final time after 35 seasons with the team. But his legacy will stand strong as Fanshawe College will rename the J Gym in his name.

During half-time of Fanshawe's game against Canadore College on December 1, a sign will be revealed renaming the gym "The Glenn Johnston Athletic Centre." After the game, there's a reception taking place at Oasis ($25 per person) and a dinner to be held in Forwell Hall ($100 per person), where many of Johnston's friends, family and former players will come to celebrate. The proceeds from the event will help fund basketball scholarships at Fanshawe.

"I know the committee was looking at it for his long tenure here, one of the longest in the OCAA, and thought it'd be a nice gesture to do," said Ernie Durocher, athletic officer at Fanshawe.

"Well, it's a terrific honour, totally unexpected ... it's a great honour and I'm very flattered," said Johnston.

Coach Johnston reached great success over his career at Fanshawe; "We've won many Ontario Championships, I think it's 12 Ontario Championships that he's won. But he won two National Championships back in the early '80s, that's quite the feat," said Durocher.

"They were a very special bunch," said Johnston. "They were very dedicated, very hard working and tough enough to win, you don't get that many dedicated players all at once very often and we were fortunate we didn't have any big injuries that would've taken us out of it."

Those two seasons weren't the only ones he was proud of. "I have been very fortunate, I've had more than my share of hard-working, dedicated players and I always feel that's the key."

Coach Johnston admitted he wasn't always easy on his players. "I always expected a lot from my players, maybe more than they thought they were capable of ... I like things done the way I like things done ... Coaching is one of those deals, where, you know, as they always say, 'to thine own self be true,' so it probably wasn't for everybody, but it was the only way I knew was comfortable for me, so that's the way it went."

Durocher said his personality and coaching abilities were a successful combination on the court. "He's a character, that's the best way I can describe him. It's either black and white — there's no grey in him. He says what he wants to say, but he got his message across to a lot of players and alumni that played on the basketball teams."

Johnston was a basketball player himself, playing at Beck, a former London high school, and moving on to play for Fanshawe. "Glenn's a very competitive person," said Durocher. "He played sports and all of the sports that he played he excelled in and it kinda shows when he coaches."

The retirement doesn't come after any particular incident, "I mean it was the right time, 35 years is a long time. I think it was time to give somebody else a whack at it, it wasn't any one thing. I retired with Andy Campbell and Jordan Dixon — they were two of my favourite players — and it seemed like a good time to go," he said.

This season, Tony Marcotullio left H.B Beal Secondary and took the reins as head coach of the Falcons. "He's a tough one to replace but we're very fortunate to have a fellow who's renowned in high school basketball, Tony Marcotullio, and he's doing a great job," said Durocher.

Johnston agreed, "Tony's had success in high school and I'm sure he'll have success here, yeah, I think the program's in capable hands, absolutely."

Although Johnston admitted he'll miss the personal relationships he gained with his players, he's been enjoying the time off. He continues to work as a property manager for Southside Group, but is taking much more time for himself. "I'm taking it a lot easier, it's amazing how you find things to do when you're not going from 5 to 7 p.m. every night and not travelling on weekends. I'm enjoying it absolutely, more time at my cottage — all good news."

For tickets for the post-game reception and evening celebration dinner, visit www.fanshawec.ca/coach. For more information, get in touch with Judith Smith at jsmith2@fanshawec.ca or call 519-452-4430 ext. 4750.