Veteran basketball coach uses sport to spread the gospel
Ex-Lakers assistant coach Roger Dutremble holds basketball camp for Laurel Christian High School
By Shawn Wansley
Published May 25, 2006 11:45 am
Some 25 years ago, Roger Dutremble was at the center of the NBA basketball world.
Dutremble, founder of Global Sports Outreach, was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, serving under Paul Westhead and Pat Riley, from 1979-83 and helping the team to three NBA championships.
This week, the 63-year-old Pensacola, Fla., resident has been running a basketball camp for around 35 Laurel Christian High School youngsters at the West Laurel Baptist Church Gym.
So, just how did Roger Dutremble wind up here? He happened to run into Rick Bartley, headmaster of LCHS.
“I met Rick through another business I’m involved in where I help raise money for my foundation and my ministry,” Dutremble said, while relaxing on a bench in the WLBC Gym, after putting the boys and girls through the paces of one of his camps earlier this week. “I was telling Rick I do basketball camps all over the country and I asked if he would be interested in having a camp here.
“One day he called me and said, ‘Let’s do it,’ so here I am. I’ve had a great time here and these are really good kids.”
Dutremble’s journey is an interesting one.
He grew up in Compton, Calif., where his mother died when he was nine-years-old.
“I was abandoned as a child,” he said. “My mother died when I was young and I lived on the streets.”
But he soon fell in love with the game of basketball and eventually worked his way up the coaching ladder, from high school to college to international and to the NBA, where he landed what seemed to be a premier job as an assistant coach with the Lakers.
“I was a coach in college and the pros always have a summer league where players try out,” he explained on how he was hired by the Lakers. “I was invited to work with the Lakers and I did for one year as a scout. Then I became an assistant coach and I was there from 1979-83 and we won three out of four championships with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and that bunch. We had some great shootouts with the Boston Celtics, if you remember.
“Then, Westhead gets fired and I left to go coach overseas professionally for a while. I came home one summer and Pat Riley had taken over (1982). He asked me to step up and be an assistant for him and I did for one year. But, I did not like being an assistant in the NBA as much as I did being a head coach overseas, so I went back overseas and spent 18 years over there.”
Dutremble has served as the national team coach for Belgium, Scotland and Jordan. But it was not until 1996 that Dutremble would ultimately find his life’s calling.
“I did not become a Christian until 10 years ago,” he said. “I had lost a small fortune in a business venture. I lost my family, too. I had made some really bad choices in my life and it kind of brought me down to my knees and I needed some help.
“A friend of mine invited me to church with him. On that day, I found Christ and it changed my life forever. I soon realized after I became a Christian, I should share some of my gifts and talents. So, I thought why don’t I go around and teach kids to play basketball.”
For Dutremble, teaching basketball is fun. And when he combines it with a spiritual message, it takes on a greater meaning.
“I do most of my camps, at the moment, during the summer because the kids are usually playing regular basketball,” he said. “It’s my job to enhance their ability and develop their skills during the off-season.
“But, more importantly than that, I use my own skills as a coach and an evangelist to share the gospel. That’s the purpose of my camp, to teach them basketball and for them to learn there is more to life than just being an athlete.”
Read more about it at Leader-Call.com
NBA Future:
Ty Lawson
Ty Lawsonled Oak Hill Academy to a 42-1 record as a senior (won their first 42 games) . First-team USA Today All-America selection . Averaged 23.8 points, 9.1 assists and five steals in 2006 . Shot 63 percent from the floor, including 42 percent from three-point range . Had a season-high 37 points, one of nine games in which he scored 30 or more . Had a season-high 18 assists and had double-digit assists 18 times . Played for coach Steve Smith . Participated in McDonald's All-Star Game, Jordan Classic and Nike Hoop Summit . McDonald's and Parade All-America selection . Had 17 points and six assists in Nike Hoop Summit . Also played soccer last year at Oak Hill . Most Valuable Player at Oak Hill in 2005 . Most Valuable Player at World Juniors Tournament in France in June 2005 . Attended Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Md., for two years.
Ty Lawson
Position: G
Class: Freshman
Ht: 5'11 Wt: 193
College: NC
Hometown: Clinton, MD
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