It’s not everyone who gets a day named after them, but Coach Stan Moses did.
Moses, who led Sandy Springs High School basketball to a state championship in 1968, was honored on July 12 with his very own day and birthday celebration attended by some 80 former teammates from across the country.
“Stan was a tough basketball coach,” said Meade Sutterfield, who played on the state championship team.
“On the other hand, he cared about us. He had an ability to make young folks accountable,” said Sutterfield, who hosted the celebration in his Sandy Springs home.
Sandy Springs resident Bill Gannon, who helped organize the event, was instrumental in getting Mayor Rusty Paul to issue a proclamation in honor of Moses, naming July 12 Stan Moses Day.
The proclamation notes that Moses taught and coached at Sandy Springs High from 1961 to 1971, served as the original principal of Sandy Springs’ Crestwood High School from 1972 to 1987, and was athletic director for the Fulton County School System from 1987 to 1990.
“Coach, when I played for you and you called a time out, you would throw a towel to us, and that towel smelled like Old Spice,” said Bob Griffeth, who graduated from Sandy Springs High School in 1966. “And I loved Old Spice after that. I still use Old Spice deodorant.”
But more importantly, Griffeth said, Moses taught him to always be prepared, which was a lesson that carried over to Griffeth’s later career with the United States Forest Service.
“When we would have a practice, Coach knew what the other team’s offense was going to be and we would play defense against that offense,” he said. “I just wondered, ‘how in the world did he know that much?’ I asked him, ‘Coach how were you so well prepared?’”
Griffeth said Moses explained that he would drive to the other teams’ towns to watch them play.
“That taught me a thing about preparation that’s lasted my whole career with the Forest Service,” Griffeth said. “I would go into contract negotiations and I would always try and be as prepared as I could, and that came directly from Stan Moses.”
When asked why he thought so many of his former players and students showed up to honor him, Moses replied, “Because I reached 80, I guess.” He added, “They were a great group of kids.”
Moses said when he first arrived in Sandy Springs, he had no intention of staying. “But I fell in love with the kids and Sandy Springs,” he said. “It was a good fit.”
He said he likely learned his coaching style from his father, a strict disciplinarian, and from a high school coach who taught him to “follow through.”
The party guests honored Moses with a special gift, a rocking chair designed by former student Jerry Wooden, which contained wood from the floors of the old Sandy Springs High gym.
The chair was signed by the players on the bottom, and the headrest contained part of a basketball as a pillow.
“The rockers and the braces, they’re the places that take the most stress. They were designed with multiple laminates that, like your teams, were placed into shape by great coaching,” Wooden said. “You taught us that a good team is always stronger than one individual.”