Cox steps down as Lakeside boys basketball coach

Lakeside High School head boys basketball coach Ron Cox resigned Thursday, ending his six-year stint coaching the Eagles of Nine Mile Falls.

Cox cited a lack of energy, which he first realized last summer, as the reason for his resignation.

“It really has nothing to do with the school,” Cox said. “I just felt last season I had a little less energy about things, and I kind of went into this season for the first time in 27 years with some questions about whether or not I had the energy to do it anymore.”

At Lakeside, Cox went 87-57 with three State 2A tournament appearances, including a sixth-place finish in 2004. He will remain a physical education teacher at the high school, but, as of now, doesn’t see himself returning to the sidelines.

“The kids need someone that can give it a little better effort,” Cox said. “It’s unfair to them and to me from that standpoint. I’m at a point where I know the summer coming up is so huge. Coaching basketball has become a really long season with the summer. I think I’ve just gotten a little burned out. The tough part was talking to my kids and telling them. Once I had made the decision and worked through it, it was pretty much a relief.”

Cox compiled a 280-199 record in 19 years as boys coach at Tekoa-Oakesdale, including the 1993 State B championship. He went 21-8 as the Nighthawks’ girls coach in 1998-99 before moving on to Lakeside.

The Coulee City, Wash., native made the NAIA All-American team in 1976 and ‘77 at Eastern Washington, and after his senior season, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected him in the sixth round of the 1977 NBA draft. Cox still leads EWU in career points and rebounds.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do next winter,” Cox said. “We’re going to have to figure out what other people do in the winter. You’re not going to see me on the ski slopes. Maybe we’ll just be some fans once in a while.”

Lakeside athletic director Tom Oliver anticipates beginning a search for Cox’s replacement next week.