More than fifty years after graduating from Coulee City High School the legend of Ron Cox, the phenomenal basketball player’s name still radiates through the school and community.
Cox and his Coulee City Rams teammates were a must watch in their small community on the shores of Banks Lake. The gym was always packed to the rafters for home games even though the high school enrollment was only forty-nine students.
Cox, the star center, closed out a brilliant “B” tournament career in 1973. Cox scored 248 points and picked off 227 rebounds (still a State B record) in fifteen State tournament games in the Spokane Coliseum. Even though he never won a team title as a player with the Ram’s, Ron Cox was truly a champion in the eyes of “B” fans.
After graduation from high school, played college basketball at Eastern Washington University for Coach Jerry Krause. In 1976, Cox was named NAIA 2nd team All American and in 1977 was named first team NAIA All American.
In 1977 the 6’6* Cox was selected in the NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the sixth round.
After serving as a student assistant at Eastern Washington during the 1977-78 season. In 1984, Coach Cox became the Head Basketball Coach at Tekoa/ Oaksdale high School. The State B Championship that was elusive as a player, came to reality as a coach when Tekoa/Oaksdale won the State “B” Championship in 1993. Coach Cox coached at Tekoa/Oaksdale from 1984-1999 before accepting the head coaching job at Lakeside High School in 1999. He resigned as coach at Lakeside High School in 2006 but returned as the head coach in 2015 and held the position until retiring in 2020.
Coach Cox was awarded Class “B” Coach of the Year in 1982 and 1992. In 2005 he was named 2005 AA Co-Coach of the Year. He finished coaching in 2020 with a career record of 447-330.
“The primary and most important take away for anyone associated with Coach Cox is the theme of respect. Every season Ron used the word “Respect” to teach players, parents, and coaches that his program would demonstrate respect for the game, our opponents, the officials, parents, teachers, facilities, and the list goes on. Respect is the word we broke every hurdle, and it continues to be a pervasive theme in my 15 years of coaching since. Even more significantly, Ron lived and continues to live the word respect to the best of his ability. He is kind to others, he demonstrates interest in others, and serves others by giving himself. In other words, he walks the talk,” said John Edwards who worked as assistant coach to Coach Cox.
Coach Cox has received awards as both a player and Coach. In 1988 he was inducted into the Eastern Washington Hall of Fame as a Player. In 2011, he was inducted into the WIAA Hall of Fame as a player. In 2016, he was honored to be inducted into the Eastern Washington Hall of Fame as a team member of the 2977 men’s basketball team. In 2019 Coach Cox was inducted into the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame as a coach.
Coach Ron Cox has been married to his wife Betty for 50 years. Their son Jaime Cox (deceased on March 25, 2024) and daughters Tanya Pauling and Heather Cox. They have seven grandchildren, Ashley Franco, Jocelyn Brown, Aaliyah Pauling, Tristan Cox, Javon Williams, Zeshawn Griffin, and Jalen Cox.
