Coach Halt was the most fun coach I ever played for. Back in the late 1980's, he coached the Highland Park Presbyterian Church boys high school basketball team. I'll never forget the story he shared with the team at the beginning of our very first team practice — he told us that the key to success in basketball is good man-to-man defense, and he told us that he once coached a kid who was such a good defender, that everybody called him "Slick" (because he was always stealing the ball). By the end of that first practice, Coach Halt gave that same nickname to our best man-to-man defender, J.J. Huff. To this day, my buddies from that team and I all refer to J.J. as "Slick." Coach Halt gave plenty of other nicknames too, my favorites being "Kangy" (as in Kangaroo) for Andrew Woodward because he could jump so high and "Secret Weapon" for Tom Oliver because Coach Halt liked to keep Tom on the bench for the first 5 seconds (or so) of each game before inserting him into the game for an immediate jolt of energy and speed. By coaching high school church basketball for many years, Coach Halt took a genuine interest in the lives of teenage boys, and we were so fortunate to have the opportunity to play for him and to call him a friend. God Bless Coach Halt ! -Jae Ellis