As first reported on KDLS last week and carried live over the radio, longtime Perry girls basketball coach Mike Long was presented a plaque by the Perry Community for his 40 years of coaching and 566 wins as the girls basketball coach in town.  A number of former players surprised him with a visit to last Thursday’s Ogden game.  One of the surprise visitors was former assistant coach and member of the 1988 Perry boys state championship team Frank Howell.  Howell served as an assistant to Long in 1992 and grew up watching him coach both baseball and basketball in Perry.

“The biggest thing that I took away from Coach Long and tried to carry into my coaching career was di scipline.  He told me once that if you don’t have discipline then you don’t have a chance.  I look back and I can’t tell you how many times the other team was probably a little more talented or skilled yet Mike always found a way to keep it tight and even as his record indicates win a lot more than he lost.”

Howell said Long always had a specific structure for the way he handled practice and everybody was always on an even playing field.

“He was always so detailed about what we were going to do in practice.  He had everything laid out and the players had to meet his satisfaction on that day’s agenda before letting them go.”