Joe Cortez was a highly successful high school basketball coach because he never confined his teaching to the gym.
While Cortez’s sphere of influence extended far beyond the court during his 36-year career at Central Catholic, some of his finer moments as a mentor came in a classroom just a few feet outside the Buttons’ gym.
“I always saw basketball as an extension of the classroom, and going into that classroom gave me the opportunity to teach,” Cortez said Thursday.
Cortez gathered his players in Room 115 before and after home games, meticulously reviewing the game plan and later critiquing the team’s performance.
“He would say, ‘I’m not teaching you basketball. I’m teaching you about life,’” said Roland Lankford, a senior guard on the 1974-75 team that won the Texas Catholic Interscholastic League state title and ended the season ranked No. 1 in the city.
Cortez excelled as a coach and teacher, guiding the Buttons to 10 TCIL state championships and helping shape the lives of dozens of players with lessons that resonate to this day.
“Some of the things I learned from Coach Cortez still ring true in my life, and professionally,” said Brian Schroder, a senior post player on the 1974-75 championship team.
Cortez, the all-time leader among city high school basketball coaches in career victories, will reach another milestone Friday night when he is inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame at the Alamodome.
The other members of the Hall’s Class of 2010 are former high school football coach/athletic director Frank Arnold, ex-UT and NFL standout Glenn Blackwood, businessman/philanthropist Bill Greehey and ex-Olympic pentathlete Vanessa Richey Said.
A San Antonio native, Cortez graduated from Central Catholic in 1950 and was an All-State basketball player for the Buttons. He went on to play four seasons at Texas before transferring to St. Mary’s, where he earned his degree in 1955.
“You don’t go into coaching with the goal of going into a hall of fame someday,” Cortez said. “You go into coaching because you want to make a difference in young lives. I am honored and humbled, and feel so fortunate to have had the chance to coach so many outstanding young men.”
Cortez went 823-443 during a 40-year career that began at Peacock Military Academy in 1955. He coached at Peacock for four seasons before returning to Central Catholic, where he was 791-404.
Cortez, 78, was honored at a reception Tuesday night before the Central Catholic-Holy Cross basketball game at St. Mary’s Greehey Arena. The event drew about 200 people, including some 50 of his former players.
“It took me back in time,” Cortez said. “It was great to see so many of my ex-players and spend some time talking with them. They’re doing well in life and that makes me feel so proud. They all have such a sense of pride in Central Catholic.”
Cortez made Central Catholic the UCLA of private-school basketball in Texas. And like John Wooden, Cortez was a strict disciplinarian who never wavered from the basics of the game.
“He was absolutely committed to fundamentals, integrity and character,” Schroder said. “You always worked hard, but you knew that Coach Cortez was right there with you. He was one of those people who had no greater expectations of you than he had of himself.”
The Buttons’ city championship in 1975 was their third, and last, under Cortez. Central Catholic also finished No. 1 in the city in 1966 and 1967, when it won state titles. The Buttons’ other state crowns came in 1961, 1964, 1965, 1974, 1982, 1984 and 1991.
Central Catholic was so dominant in its heyday that it won 46 consecutive games from 1964-66.
Cortez never coached an undefeated team but the 1965-66 squad came close, going 36-1. Central Catholic also had the distinction of beating Marshall, the University Interscholastic League’s Class 4A state champ, three times that season.
The Rams’ record that season: 30-3.
“I still kid the Marshall guys that they were No. 1 in the state, but No. 2 in Bexar County,” said Bill Hickey, who played on the 1963-64 and 1964-65 teams. “Marshall was 0-3 against us and 30-0 against everybody else.”
Chuck Henckel, a senior point guard on the 1965-66 team, credited Cortez for setting high standards on and off the court.
“It was all about discipline and teamwork, and that carried over to everything in your life,” Henckel said. “Coach Cortez wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Henckel was joined in the lineup by senior center Roger Bowden, junior forward Mike Erspamer, and senior guards Jim Bischoffberger and Leonard Conrad.
“Those guys had a lot of talent, but they also played well together,” Cortez said. “I’ve always said you don’t win with talent. You can have talent and still lose. You win with execution and you strive for consistency. When you have talent and you execute, you can go 36-1 and have a great team like we did in 1966.”
Thomas Aguillon, the starting point guard on Cortez’s last championship team 19 years ago, recalled how the team reflected its coach’s attention to detail.
“Playing for him, you always felt prepared,” Aguillon said. “You knew you had practiced for every possible situation. You always knew you had a good chance because of that.”
Raised in a single-parent home, Aguillon said he often turned to Cortez for guidance.
“He commanded respect and discipline from the get-go because of who he was,” Aguillon said.
J.J. Uribe, a senior guard on the 1989-90 team, said Cortez never lost perspective of his role as a teacher.
“He taught you about life and prepared you,” Uribe said.
And that’s why Uribe and so many others always will remember the coach known as “Papa Joe” in the close-knit Central Catholic community.
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