Chaulie Rey

Chaulie Rey passed away today. He found out in May that he had stage 4 lung cancer. 32 years ago Chaulie played for us at El Dorado Kansas high school. At the time of his passing he was 50 years of age. 

I met Chaulie the first summer I was in El Dorado. I was the new head basketball coach for the Wildcats. He introduced himself as Chaulie, with a u, but said, “you can call me PrimeTime.” I told him, “you are pretty cocky for a guy who got cut last year from a team that won two games.” He told me, “they cut the wrong guy. That’s why they won two games. But you will do better because you’re a smart coach and you gonna have Chaulie Rey. You’ll see.”

“If you learned to listen more and talk less you might just get to play, a little. Maybe,” I said. In time Chaulie did learn to listen. I won that one. He never did stop talking. That one I lost.

Chaulie wrote on Facebook two weeks ago that I was the only coach that ever believed in him. When we talked I told him he was wrong. He believed in himself but it took me time to come around. I tried for four months to run him off. 

It became known as the four stages of Chaulie Rey. First stage; In September I told Coach Melcher and Coach Koppenhaver that come the first day of practice when he started to run his mouth I was going to make an example of him by cutting him right on the spot. Send a message to the rest of the team. Stage two; in October I said we will keep him on the team as he could make a pretty good practice player. Stage three; in November I said he’s going to play but we are not starting him. By December, stage four; he never leaves the floor.

I found an old newspaper story that said Chaulie has scored 19 points in the previous night‘s game with most coming around the rim. I will guarantee you all of his points came from around the rim. Chaulie could not hit a shot over 6 feet from the basket. How he ever averaged 14 points a game against the competition we played I will never know.

In those days the Ark Valley League was loaded with 6 foot 4 to 6 foot 10 inch players who were studs. Some went on to play major college basketball. Chaulie was 6 foot 2 and since he couldn’t shoot, a post player. He went from a player cut from a 2-19 team to the heart and soul of a 15-6 team - a good turn around. And he never stopped talking.

Chaulie was Dennis Rodman before Dennis Rodman. He was a dirty player and opponents despised him. One opposing coach refused to shake my hand after the game throwing in the dismissive comment that Chaulie was the dirtiest player he had ever seen. I said, “he is worse in practice.” He would hold, he would bite, he would push, he would scratch. When we talked a couple weeks ago I told him I was going to pull out the old game tapes and make a 15 minute highlight film of Chaulie slaying the Giants and when I was having a bad day I could plop it into the VCR. He liked that idea.

Chaulie thought he could block every shot. He was constantly flirting with foul trouble, often committing the Cardinal sin of basketball defense - fouling a jump shooter. One day I stopped practice and told Chaulie that the first time he left his feet on a ball fake in the next night‘s game I was calling timeout and he would need when I was done with him an urgent trip to the proctologist. What’s a proctologist, he asked? I told him it’s a butt doctor that you go to when you have hemorrhoids or your coach’s foot stuck up your rear end. He winked at me. The next night against Derby’s front line of 6 foot 10, 6 foot 8 and 6 foot 5 he blocked six shots, and fouled out of the game. 

We played in Ark City on what I remember as a bitterly cold January weekday night. It was a crucial AVL game. I had to dig out the scrapbook this afternoon to get all the details correct. We were tied at the end of the game and Chaulie was fouled. He was at best a 50% free throw shooter. AC called time out to ice him. Ice Chaulie? Come on. In the huddle I said, “if Chaulie misses the first shot then we…..” I never got the chance to finish. When Charlie got excited his voice took on a high pitch. “Miss? Miss? Chaulie Rey got this one. You boys just need to fall back on defense. This game is over.“

He hit both free throws and we won by two.

The ride home was a two-hour northern trek across the frigid Kansas prairie, but it was a "happy flight." As colorful as he was it was only natural that Chaulie had a number of nicknames. On the ride home from Ark City, I gave him what became my favorite, "Fall Back Chuck."

Over the past three decades I would periodically cross paths with Chaulie. He moved to California. According to him, at different times he was a hot tub salesman, a street corner preacher, a rising porn star and the owner of a health food store. With Chaulie, who knows.

Chaulie was one of a kind. He had more guts than a fish market. And for the record, he was right all those years ago, they did cut the wrong guy. So, fall back Chaulie Rey. This game is over. Watch those ball fakes, never foul a jump shooter and I will see you on the other side.