Prof Blood And The Wonder Team: The True Story Of Basketball's First Great Coach

Professor Ernest Blood was a generation ahead of his time. His coaching record of 1268-165 does not fully explain his excellence as a coach. His major flaw was winning too much. His biography explains why he is the most extraordinary of all Basketball Hall of Fame members.

Chic Hess was born and raised in Southwest Philadelphia but moved to Levittown, Pennsylvania, where he played his high school basketball at Bishop Egan High School, a member of the Northern Division of the Philadelphia Catholic League. He played for legendary coach Howie Landa at Trenton Junior College before moving on to East Stroudsburg University to earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees in health and physical education. Later, Hess received his doctorate in education from Brigham Young University, where he was named class valedictorian. While teaching and coaching in the Pennsbury, Loyalsock Township, and Lebanon School Districts in Pennsylvania, Hess's teams accumulated a distinguished 230-81 record, and he was honored with three coach-of-the-year awards. At Lebanon High School in Pennsylvania, his teams earned him a 158-57 record. Hess, along with his 1978 state finalist team, was recently inducted into the school s Sports Hall of Fame. In the 1988 and 1989 seasons at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, Hess was recognized as the NAIA District 29 Basketball Coach of the Year. Later at Arizona Western College, Dr. Hess was awarded the NABC-Kodak National Junior College Basketball Coach of the Year. Hess has served as President of the Hawaii Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance; Vice President for the Division of Sport; Vice President for the Division of Physical Education; President-elect, President and Past President in the Southwest District of AAHPERD; the Chair position in the National Association for Sport, Physical Education s (NASPE) Academy for History of Sport, Philosophy, and Sociology; and Executive Director for Southwest District of SHAPE America. Hess has also served as the Southwest District s representative to the Board of Governors of SHAPE America (formerly AAHPERD). Chic and his wife reside in Kailua, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, where he conducts basketball player development clinics for the youth and coaching clinics for the state's coaches.