GCC names Lindquist Center court after longtime Samsons' coach

By JASON JUNO

sports@yourdailyglobe.com

GCC  men’s basketball coach Dennis Mackey didn’t know why he was asked for his signature. Had he known it would appear on the Lindquist Center's newly named Coach Mackey Court, he may have taken more time to perfect it.

“My scribbling is a little bit like that naturally when I sign something fast,” he said.

While he pointed out the e in his last name could look a little bit more like an e, the capital C and M to start Coach and Mackey look especially sharp. And this way, it’s authentic and still eminently readable.

Mostly, though, it's the physical manifestation of the impact he has made in 19 years coaching the Lady Samsons and the past 17 leading the men’s basketball team.

When he returns to the sideline this fall, he’ll be walking over his signature and his signature phrase, “Once a Samson, Always a Samson,” as Gogebic Community College named the Lindquist Center court Coach Mackey Court after him.

“At first, pretty awestruck and humbled by it. I still am,” Mackey said last week. “It’s nice to be recognized, but at the same time, it’s a little embarrassing at times too because it’s not about me. It’s about this program and what we’re trying to do here; I don’t want to distract from that. There’s a lot of other people that had a big influence in this school and in this facility over the years, too, that maybe haven’t been recognized and that’s always a concern of mine.

“It’s a nice thing. I’m flattered, I’m honored, and at the same time, a little humbled and embarrassed by it, too.”

Mackey has been the face of GCC basketball for a while now.

College president and former Samson basketball player Chris Patritto sees all of the other former players that come back to play in the alumni basketball games. He thinks a big part of the reason they come back is to see Dennis.

Patritto sees the fundraising, the long seasons, the long bus rides; in short the dedication Mackey has shown to the program for almost four decades. Even the crowds his teams still attract given the declining population and school enrollments locally.

“You look at the overall gamut of it — the longevity, the dedication, what he’s meant to the community, what he’s meant to his players — I can’t think of a more fitting person for that honor,” Patritto said. “This place has meant a lot to him. When you spend 37 years in one place, that place has meant something to you. He’s made the college a better place and he’s made the students he worked with better too. Just can’t think of a more deserving guy.”

A lot of times coaches and players aren’t honored until after they’ve retired. Patritto thought it was nice to be able to do it while he’s still coaching.

“We just thought it would be pretty cool for him to be coaching still and seeing his name on the court and knowing that court is named after him. That’s a pretty big honor,” Patritto said.

Mackey’s family was in town recently and seeing it really meant something to all of them.

“I know my immediate family, my wife, is very excited about it,” Mackey said. “My dad was up this weekend and my sisters and they were excited to see and it meant a lot to them.”

— — —

It’s easier to sell “Once a Samson, Always A Samson,”when you mean it, when it means something to you.

Mackey started out at Gogebic as a player. Then it’s where he got his start coaching and teaching, and of course he’s been a big part of the college ever since.

“I’m loyal to Gogebic, I support this community and I support everybody around this community. I want it to do well,” he said. “I want to succeed as a college. I want to succeed in our academic programs, our esports program, women’s volleyball, basketball, men’s basketball. I want everybody to succeed because if one succeeds, it spins off into others and just makes us a better institution.”

Most of his players, of course, will never coach or teach at the college after their playing days are over. But being a part of the program should still mean something to them.

“I really wanted to impress upon all the players and the participants in the program, try to make them see the value of being a part of the program and try to encourage them to be proud of what we do and who we are,” Mackey said, explaining where the phrase came from.

Do something badly, it reflects on everyone. If the team does something well, the same is true.

“I try to expound on the guys, ‘Hey this is what we need to do, we need to look out for each other and make us look good in the eyes of not only ourselves, but also in the community and the people around and make others proud of us and the institution.’ That’s my goal,” he said.

He knows people take note of him saying it because former men and women players remind him of it from time to time.

“Everybody didn’t have a great time here and everybody isn’t bought into what we do, but a lot of them have,” Mackey said.

Patritto has heard him say it, also.

“Part of the reason I’m sitting in this chair right now is because once I was a Samson, I’m always a Samson,” he said.

— — —

As news slowly spread about the court’s new name, Mackey has often taken some questions.

Why didn’t you tell us?

Why’d you scribble?

The second question is good-natured ribbing of course. As for the first one, he was never going to spread the word himself: He’s proud of it but not the type to draw attention to himself.

“I’m proud of the school, I’m proud of what we do and how we go about our business and what we produce in terms of students and student athletes,” he said.

The other question he’s been getting a lot longer is how much longer he’s going to coach. The exact answer is a mystery even to him. But it will be, he said, as long as the administration supports him and he can do a good job.

Leadership seems to have given him a pretty strong indication where they stand.

“Hopefully this means that what I’ve been doing is the right thing,” he said of the honor. “And that’s my goal, to continue doing the right thing, my thing, and hopefully it is the right thing in the future.”

At a time when he could retire, he still enjoys coaching.

“Probably the involvement with the student athletes, and the practices and the games are what keep you going — and the experiences and the memories you create with them,” he said.

The fundraising and the recruiting are challenging. He said the fundraising can be daunting at times. The recruiting, well that never ends at a two-year school.

It’s always a challenge to make sure players perform well in the classroom as well, he takes pride in them taking care of business in there as well in addition to being good people.

“More than one has come back to me after the fact and told me I was the father figure they didn’t have,” Mackey said. “Which sometimes gets a little emotional, but it’s happened several times and is again what makes the job so rewarding when people do recognize you and tell you that.”

Looking back even further, when he started coaching at GCC, he took over for Kevin Borseth and Deke Routheaux was coaching the men’s team — ”who I think both are icons as far as coaching obviously in this area,” Mackey said. “I look up to both of them. I took a lot from what I observed from that and then I built on it. They’ve still been confidants for me over the years.

“...With that, I built a loyalty to the program and a loyalty to the school and want to give back everything I possibly can and the way I can.”

He’s already looking ahead to next season. He’s got 12 players signed for the fall with another one pending. He’ll feel better about that number when everyone’s here and here to stay this fall, but that’s the case every year.

His goal each season is also the same — to compete for a Region 13 title. Beat DCTC during the regular season and they’d then get a chance to host tournament games this season.

The most important factor in that becoming reality is what’s written on the floor below his name on the gym floor.

“It still remains to be seen how we gel as a team. I like the recruiting class we have, but it still has to work and it has to gel, the players have to buy in,” Mackey said. “They need to be proud to be a part of the program and they need to personify, right here, ‘Once a Samson, Always a Samson,’ or it’s tough to compete.”