Head coach of Booker T. Washington basketball team leading through principles of family history

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — “I really like them. I actually do,” Booker T. Washington boys basketball coach Vincent Grayson mentioned. He works to show that to his gamers day by day. It doesn’t matter what they want, Coach Grayson is all the time there.

“It is arduous discovering coaches like him. That loves us, that loves his gamers. And would do something for his gamers. With out him in this system, I do not know,” guard Andre Walker II mentioned.

Poised for an additional deep playoff run, the Eagles do not know all the things about Grayson’s household historical past, however their lives are higher due to a wealthy household legacy.

Boyce Eugene Grayson Sr. was the primary Black alderman in Tupelo, Mississippi, a distinguished chief in a time when a Black man’s delight made him a goal.

He raised his sons with a guiding gentle. When somebody is in want, you’ll be able to’t say no.

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Coach Grayson labored on composing himself when ABC13’s Greg Bailey requested concerning the biggest present his father had given him and his brothers.

“He confirmed us learn how to be a person. Arise for what’s proper. Be honest,” he mentioned of his father.

Grayson tells Eyewitness Information that within the Seventies, a Black man was arrested by police in Tupelo and crushed badly whereas in custody. “I keep in mind happening to the jailhouse, and the man’s head was like a basketball. They’d beat him up so unhealthy. And so they mentioned they weren’t going to fireplace the policemen who did it,” Grayson mentioned.

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Grayson Sr. organized a march in protest and was met by the Ku Klux Klan. Brandishing hatred, they known as for the alderman in Ward 4.

“We would see little holes in our home windows, and pop would say they have been from rocks. They weren’t from no rocks. Folks (have been) capturing at our home, ” Vincent mentioned.

Boyce Grayson stood his floor and continued to work for the folks he represented. His power might have been born throughout a frontline fight tour within the Korean Warfare. Or, extra possible, it was one thing discovered deep in his soul.

His sons routinely met strangers within the kitchen of their household house. Individuals who did not have anyplace else to go for a meal knew the place they might discover assist.

“Lots of people say he was the cornerstone of that city. To me and my brothers, he was simply our dad. To all people else, he was like Mount Rushmore. They actually believed in him,” Vincent mentioned.

They nonetheless do. Years after his father died, his legacy lives in Tupelo and at Booker T. Washington Excessive Faculty.

Coach Grayson can nonetheless hear the lengthy line of mourners who packed their church to honor his father,

“My lights was off. Your dad got here and received our lights on. My household wanted meals. Your daddy introduced us meals. My household did not have a automotive. Your daddy went and purchased a money automotive for us,” he mentioned.

For extra on this story, observe Greg Bailey on Fb, Twitter and Instagram.