At Hightstown High, Coach Helps Fill Generation Gap

When a coach has been at a high school for a long time, it's not unusual for them to one day have the children of their former players try out for the team.

What's different at , however, is that Don Hess coached both the moms and the dads. In the case of Qwanza Harper, Hess has coached both his mom and his dad.

"I thought he'd be long gone before I ever played," said Qwanza, who recently finished his basketball career at Hightstown. "I'm glad he wasn't. He's straight up front as a coach. He puts the best guys on the floor. My parents always said he was a good coach that knew what he was doing."

Hess is in the unique position of coaching three sports and both boys and girls at Hightstown High. He started coaching boys basketball at Hightstown in 1979. Hess also coaches girls soccer (starting in 1985) and girls track (starting in 1982) at the school.

Considering all the years Hess has been at Hightstown and all the players he's coached, there have been a lot of opportunities for a love connection among his students.

Kerri Choice and Michael Harper were high school sweethearts at Hightstown, going on their first date in 1985. The pair graduated in 1987.

"It's cool because these are special people," Hess said. "They come to every game. They are a Hightstown family that stands out."

According to Michael Harper, it's also a basketball family. The dad was a point guard. The mom was on Hightstown's girls state championship basketball team, coached by Ray Clark. Terrell Choice, another son of Kerri and Michael, and Qwanza have both finished their careers at Hightstown. A third boy, Dionte, played junior varsity this season and should be on the varsity team next year.

"I coached all of my kids in AAU [Amateur Athletic Union]," Michael noted. "The whole family loves basketball. Whether it's high school, college, professional, men or women, we watch it all."

One player he never got to see play in his prime was Hess, who was voted at one time the best player ever to come out of Mercer County.

"I know that now, but I didn't when I played for him," Michael said, laughing.

Hess would make deals with players, offering a reduction of practice time if any of them could shoot free throws better than he could. "He made 60 or 70 in a row one time," Michael said. "None of us could beat him."

Kerri said she remembers a more playful coach.

Since Hightstown competed in so many track meets on the weekends, Hess would often pick up his athletes on Saturday mornings. This included Kerri and Corrine Choice (her sister).

"He'd come to pick us up and we'd still be asleep," Kerri recalled. "He'd have to yell out the window to get us up," she continued with a laugh. "Fun times... fun times."

Hess said he sat down with Michael at a recent banquet and talked about the old times. Still same coach. Still a desire to play defense. What's changed?

"He's gotten soft on the kids," Michael said. "He was tougher when we played. If someone messed up, you pulled out the bleachers and you ran up and down them."

While Hess said he may have gotten "softer in [his] old age," he's also quick to add that those bleachers have been around for a while. "It wouldn't be a good idea for anyone to run on them," Hess said with a laugh.

Softer or not, Hightstown and Hess move on and on. He's helped link one generation with another, one family with another.

Next season, Dionte will probably be a member of the squad that helps Hess reach 400 career coaching wins. Hess now has 393 wins and Michael, Qwanza and Terrell certainly helped get many of those victories.

While 400 wins is certainly a special milestone for a coach, a real testament would be if Hess could last long enough to coach a former player's grandson.

"It would be something if he coached my kids one day," Qwanza said.

Michael said he doesn't think it is possible for Hess to last that long on the job. Hess also had his doubts.

"I don't think I'll be around for that," Hess said with a chuckle. "But you never know."