Toward the end of this week, eight teams will gather in the gym that bears Jim Alegre's name to compete in the tournament that bears Jim Alegre's name, and will do their best to live up to the legacy.

James Shigeo Alegre was the basketball coach at Radford High School for 34 glorious years, filling the trophy case and record books with more than 600 wins, four state championships and nine OIA titles. Even more than for his winning record, Alegre was known for his warm smile, infallible integrity and the strength of character he taught along with basketball skills.

In October, he succumbed to cancer at 68 after a yearlong fight.

But during that last year, the kids who became good athletes and good men because of Coach Alegre got to thank him. They called, they wrote letters, they came to see him. They made sure he knew.

Raymond Ocampo was a bench-warming junior on Alegre's 1969 championship team, the first OIA team to win a state basketball title. At one point, Ocampo was the only player on the team who hadn't scored a point the whole season. Alegre called special plays to make sure Ocampo got a chance to get on the scoreboard.

A few days before Alegre died, Ocampo sent this letter to the man he still called Coach:

"I went to college at UCLA and law school at Berkeley, neither of which would have happened had I not believed that all things were possible. I have had a successful career with many accomplishments — I was the general counsel at Oracle Corporation, the chair of the American Bar Association Section of Science and Technology Law, co-founder of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology (the leading intellectual-property program in the country), a member of the board of directors of several public companies and numerous nonprofit organizations — but I was prouder of being a member of the Radford High School varsity basketball team in 1968-69 than any other organization of which I have been a part. I was a bit player on the team — the last one on the bench — but you made sure to make me feel a part of the game. For that, I will always feel grateful."

Other letters had fewer words but the same aloha.

Radford 1983 player Ken Niumatalolo, who went on to play football for UH and is now assistant head coach at Navy, wrote:

"I am sorry I was such a knucklehead playing for you. I am a better person because of you."

Jeff Steig, member of the '72 championship team, graduate of the Air Force Academy and now a pilot for United Airlines, wrote asking if he and his wife could fly to Honolulu to see Alegre:

" ... knowing you and being able to play for you at Radford was one of the most important and enjoyable experiences of my life. We haven't had many conversations about spiritual things, but I am convinced that the Lord brought you into my life because he knew what an incredible blessing it would be for me to know you."

The stories of his coaching days are approaching legend, but before Alegre was a stellar coach, he was a stellar athlete.

Born in Honoka'a to a Japanese mother and Filipino father, Alegre became a multisport athlete under another beloved high school coach, Louis Santos, a man who once cut Alegre from the basketball team. Determined to prove himself, Alegre caught Santos' attention with standout performances playing intramural ball. Santos asked him back to the team. Years later, Alegre's Radford team faced Santos' squad in the state championships. Alegre honored the man he called "the master" by besting Santos' squad.

There is a thick file of newspaper clippings that span Alegre's career. Almost every other article starts out by mentioning his height:

"Jim Alegre is a small man from a small town who has made it big in high school basketball at Radford."

"Jimmy Alegre is a little fellow. When he is with his Radford High School basketball players, he looks like a student manager rather than their coach."

"The diminutive Alegre — 5-3 in stocking feet — has built his winning teams around teamwork. ..."

But that's not how his players remember him. To them, the measure of the man was his kindness.

Wrote Ocampo:

"I recall coming back to visit you at Radford about 10 years after the state championship and telling you how I wish I had played for you in my senior year — and how I wish I had received the state championship medal that I never received because I had moved to California before the medal arrived. You could tell that the medal still meant something to me, so you gave me what you told me was an extra one from your next championship year, a medal much bigger than the one issued in 1969. Was it your own medal, Coach, or an extra one? I wouldn't be surprised if it had been your own medal, Coach, and that you were being your thoughtful self."

In addition to the gym and the annual tournament, a college scholarship bearing Jim Alegre's name has been established at Radford. It is another way those who knew him are trying to thank him, even though he knew.

TOURNAMENT, SCHOLARSHIP

Seventh annual James Alegre Invitational Basketball Tournament. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Radford High School. $6 for adults; $4 for children and seniors. Participating teams are Honoka'a, Iolani, Kahuku, Kamehameha, Leilehua, Moanalua, Punahou and Radford.

JAMES ALEGRE SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION

Radford High School
c/o Principal Robert Stevens
4361 Salt Lake Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96818

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.