Bess inducted into NJCAA Hall of Fame

Add another honor to the list for former Three Rivers College men’s basketball coach Gene Bess.

After being inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame last summer, Bess was inducted Thursday into the NJCAA Foundation Hall of Fame class. Joining Bess in the NJCAA Hall of Fame Class of 2024 were former NBA standouts Artis Gilmore and Shawn Marion, former Purdue and Hutchinson Community College coach Gene Keady, longtime Central Arizona College women’s basketball coach Lin Laursen and Olympic medalist Veronica Campbell Brown.

Bess and the other members of the 2024 Hall of Fame class were inducted in a ceremony at the Hilton Charlotte University Place in Charlotte, N.C.

With a coaching career spanning more than 50 years, Bess left his mark on the NJCAA, the TRC men’s basketball program, and college basketball in general.

Bess arrived at Three Rivers in 1969 after a 12-year stint coaching in high school basketball, then became the head coach one year later.

From there, he had an acclaimed coaching career which consisted of 17 NJCAA national tournament appearances and two national championships, in 1979 and 1992.

Bess is a two-time National Coach of the Year, 19-time Midwest Community College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, 23-time Region 16 Coach of the Year, and the first college basketball coach at any level to reach 1,000 wins. Under his leadership, the Raiders averaged 26 wins per season with four trips to the national championship game, 20 Region 16 titles, and 29 MCCAC championship victories.

Throughout his career, Bess has coached two future NBA players in Marvin McCrary and Latrell Sprewell and at least 42 former Raiders went on to become coaches, including Bess’s two successors at Three Rivers, Brian Bess and Robert Kirby.

In addition to being inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Bess is in the Poplar Bluff Sports Hall of Fame, Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, NJCAA Men’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. The Three Rivers basketball court is named after him along with a bronze statue in front of the sports complex built in his honor.

At the time of his retirement in 2020, Bess amassed 1,300 wins, the most in collegiate basketball at any level with a final coaching record of 1,300-416.