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Coach’s legacy
By Levi Miller The BudgetHOLMES COUNTY, Ohio — Marvin Blanks, an orator from Detroit, presented Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech to an Amish and Mennonite community.
It was the seventh “Classic in the County” basketball event. During the three days of Martin Luther King weekend, back-to-back games showcase premier girls teams from New Jersey to Florida. The annual event grew out of the legacy of coach Perry Reese Jr. (1952-2000), who embodied King’s dream — that people “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” — for the community, according to Erik Beun, athletic director at host Hiland High School.
Reese’s story of being an African-American Roman Catholic in an Amish and Mennonite community was told in the Sports Illustrated March 5, 2001 issue. A recent issue of the magazine named that article a top story of the past decade.
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