Coach Mike Buck’s Stone Memorial Panthers faced the Grainger Grizzlies during the Maryville Christmas Classic at James C. Campbell Gymnasium in Maryville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. The Stone Memorial girls won 62-49. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By DAVE LINK
MARYVILLE – Mike Buck was at a career crossroads in 2015.
He had retired from coaching the Stone Memorial boys’ basketball team in May of 2012 and gotten into the sales business.
Three years later, the coaching job for Stone Memorial’s girls came open, and Buck had the coaching itch.
He asked his daughter, Mattie, about it.
“Yeah, I’d love for you to do that,” said Mattie, who was between her sixth- and seventh-grade years of middle school.
Then Buck’s wife, Tracy, got into the conversation.
“Are you sure you want to do that now?” she asked.
subscribe to read full article