The late Charles Bess, the former head basketball coach at Attapulgus High School from 1962-66 and Bainbridge High School fromx1971-85, will be inducted into the Decatur County Sports Hall of Fame Saturday, March 19.

Coach Bess’s son Greg, who played for his dad in Bainbridge, will represent him at the banquet.

During his tenure as Head Coach at Attapulgus High School, Bess’s teams won the Albany High School Indians Christmas Tournament championship in 1964.

Decatur County Commissioner Russell Smith was a senior center on Bess’s 1964-65 Attapulgus team. He says it is no secret that Bess was successful everywhere he coached.

“Coach Bess always told us that if we did not execute fundamentals we would not be very successful,” Smith said. “We always tried our best to execute fundamentals and consequently we were successful.”

From Attapulgus coach Bess went to Cherokee High School in Canton, Georgia where he won three state championships as the girls’ basketball coach. He then returned to Decatur County where he coached the Bainbridge High School Bearcats from 1971 through 1985.

Smith remembers Bess as a strict disciplinarian on the court who truly cared for each of his players off the court.

“If me or any of our other players messed up on the court, Coach Bess did not have to say anything to us,” Smith said. “He would just stand up and give us a cold stare, and we would go the extra mile to play better. Off the court he was our best friend and we knew that if we were having any personal problems he would listen and try to help in any way he could.”

Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet, which will be Saturday, March 19 at the Bainbridge High School cafeteria, are $20.00 and may be purchased at Bainbridge High School, Grace Christian Academy and Parker Paints. There will be a meet and great session at 6 p.m. and the banquet will begin at 7 p.m.