Former Easley coach Steve Beasley reflects on his journey following Hall of Fame induction

About a month ago, former Easley and Southside basketball coach Steve Beasley received a call that gave him a pleasant surprise.

It was a call from the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association, and they informed Beasley he was being inducted in the SCBCA Hall of Fame.

“They called and told me, and of course, it’s quite a shock," Beasley said. "Anytime anybody gets an individual award, it’s more about other people than it is to them. My parents supported me, I’ve been married 45 years, my wife supported me —she’s seen a whole lot of basketball games.

“It’s a blessing. We’ve got about 80 in our Hall of Fame and to put it in perspective, that's just 80 coaches, (for) boys and girls, in the whole state. I mean, I don’t know, that’s pretty amazing I was even considered.”

Beasley was one of the five coaches in the 2022 Hall of Fame class.

Through his 38-year coaching career, Beasley retired with an overall record of 428-246 with his boys and girls teams. He collected a slew of awards including nine region coach of the year honors, The Greenville News Coach of the Year and the South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year.

Beasley took Easley's boys and girls programs to new heights as he spent 31 years career at the helm of the Green Wave. He guided both programs to Upper State semi-finals and took the boys team to the Upper State Finals twice.

Then Beasley made the move to Southside, thanks to the persuasion of his former junior varsity coach, Carlos Brooks, who became the principal of Southside at the time.

“He talked me into going over there and my wife said, ‘you’re crazy! You been here all these years and you’re going to Southside?’, Beasley recalled. “I said well, yes, I’m going to go over there. But it worked out great, won a couple of state championships but to me, that was never my goal.”

Beasley captured two boys state championships in 2017 and 2018 but the trophies and awards were never Beasley's purpose while coaching.

He relished providing kids an opportunity to play ball and giving the ones with collegiate talent exposure to be recruited, and he's had plenty of players go on to play at the next level.

Beasley wanted to teach them hard work, something his parent instilled in him at an early age. Beasley's parents worked in the textile industry and as he described it, it was some hot, dirty work.

Beasley knew he wanted to coach ever since he was young.

He credited his former coaches at Pickens High School for having a lasting impact on his life that led to him becoming a coach.

As a coach, Beasley made countless memories treasures to this day, and he enjoyed everything that came with being a head coach, even all of the chores that come with the job.

“There’s just so many stories," Beasley said. "You know, for high school coaches, we sweep floors, wash uniforms, drive the bus, (make) schedules, go to team camps. Very little of it is about the games themselves, you know. Just the preparation for the games, that’s what I enjoyed, I enjoyed the journey.

"Spending time with players. There wasn’t a day that went by I didn’t try to talk with every one of my players … (I) just tried to build relationships because you never know what they’ve been through at home, their financial situation, or their personal situation. So I did try to be personable and develop relationships with the players and that was the joy of coaching.”

This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Steve Beasley was quite shocked to be honored in the SBCA Hall of Fame