Overcoming adversity, helping community

Until Rodney Stuckey came along, Ron Cox was the marquee player in Eastern Washington University basketball history. A first team All-America selection in 1977, Cox established Eastern's career records in points (1,741), rebounds (1,243) and field goal percentage (62.9). He was drafted to the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, but an ankle injury ended his professional calling the fourth day of team camp.

"Before I left for the camp, I bought a new pair of shoes. They only had low-tops and I had never worn those before," said Cox. After leaping for a rebound, Cox landed on the side of his foot, which had been tender since college.

"They came to the conclusion that it had been sprained so many times that the ligaments had been stretched and finally detached. I pulled the ligaments off the heel of my foot, so basically I had to completely get it reconstructed," Cox said.

Unfortunately, that meant Cox would not play among the likes of NBA legend Walt Frazier and other greats to follow. He did, however, get a chance to compete against Larry Bird and future U.S. Olympians the summer before his injury. "Fortunately for me, coach [Jerry] Krause came through for me and literally got me selected for the University Games tryouts, which was an Olympic development program," he said.

"They took this European trip to go to Bulgaria that summer. I realized at that point that I could compete with that level of an athlete, so that was a huge plus for me," said Cox.

Another positive for Cox was his high regard for learning. After coaching Tekoa-Oaksdale High School to a State B Championship in 1992, he returned to EWU in 1994, earning a master's degree in physical education. He continued his involvement in Eagle athletics, working as a graduate assistant coach for the 1994-1995 season.

Cox currently teaches physical education classes at Lakeside High School in Spokane, where he retired from coaching four years ago. In his 27 years as an educator and coach, Cox saw a duty to promote physical activity, especially nowadays.

"When you look at the youth in America and the rate of obesity with a lack of exercise, it can be a challenging connection with kids to create a healthy lifestyle to live as long as possible to share life's moments," said Cox.

Cox sees living longer as important, but also seizing life's moments. "When my father passed away with Alzheimer's, I kind of realized at that point how special all the times were and how you need to cherish every moment," he said. Cox said he tries to pass this advice on to the youth whose lives he touches.

Besides marrying at 18 and becoming a father at 20, Cox saw his days at Eastern as providing some of those special times in life. "I can honestly say that was some of the most enjoyable years of my life. I had great professors, but it was more just the coaches, the athletic department and the fact they cared for me as a person as much as they did as a basketball player," he said.

Now a grandfather of seven with three sons himself, Cox lives sports vicariously through youth soccer, basketball and little league games with his family. Inducted as an Eagle athletics Hall of Fame member in 1998, Cox is proud of his past accomplishments, but remains focused on helping his community through education.

"I'm trying to offer young people some experiences they can hold onto and apply somewhere in their life. To them, it's just another day at school, but the reality is you need to take advantage of it. You need to battle through the tough days and see the big picture of helping society before your end time," he said.