Full Story Click here: (Courtesy of Modesto Bee)
Thursday, Apr. 04, 2013
Sonora's Francis retires from coaching boys basketball
SONORA -- For 37 years, there has been no tougher place for visiting teams to win basketball games than at Sonora High.
It was due to much more than the long drive.
If you were a fast-breaking team, the Wildcats would slow you down. If you preferred to slow it down, Sonora would beat you at your own game.
Modesto Bee - Sonora High boys basketball coach Rick Francis won more than 600 games as the boys basketball coach, the most in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Francis is retiring from coaching after 37 years, but will remain as the athletic director.
And through it all, Rick Francis was pulling the strings.
Francis, 64, officially stepped down as the Wildcats' head coach on Tuesday after 42 years coaching in the Sonora program and 37 as varsity head coach, during which he compiled a 651-394 record.
According to Cal-Hi Sports, the 651 wins are the most in the history of the Sac-Joaquin Section. The only other coach ever to eclipse 600 wins in section play was Vanden's Jim Boyd, who retired in 1997 after notching 614 wins.
"I just think it's time," Francis said. "It's been a great run and I enjoyed every minute of it. I got a little tired this year and I thought a lot about this since the end of the seasons, then discussed it the with family and administration."
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