DANVILLE — Monte Vista girls basketball coach Jim Lemmon, who had battled cancer since late July, has died, the school’s athletic director, Andy Popper, said Friday.
Lemmon, 58, took over the Monte Vista program last season.
Before then, he coached Castro Valley’s girls team for 10 seasons, leading the Trojans to the North Coast Section Division I championship and on a run to the Northern California Division I title game in 2016. Castro Valley went 33-3 that season.
An email was sent to the parents of Lemmon’s players Thursday and Monte Vista officials planned to meet with the team Friday morning.
Popper had known Lemmon, a retired San Leandro police detective, for more than 20 years.
“He was just a good man,” said Popper, who was the AD at Castro Valley when Lemmon coached there. “He’s got integrity. He coached because he loved to. Other than spending time with his family, what brought him happiness was coaching.
“There’s no dog in the fight. He wasn’t ordinarily coaching his own kid. He wasn’t coaching club. He wasn’t coaching AAU. He just wanted to be an old ball coach. I think that’s why people liked him and respected him and gravitated toward him. He just did it for the love of doing it.”
Monte Vista will play its game Friday night at home against Carondelet.
The NCS recognized Lemmon last week as its girls basketball honor coach.
“Congrats Coach and thanks for all you’ve done over the years for your players and the game!” the section wrote on Twitter.
Lemmon is survived by his wife and two daughters.
The North Coast Section is proud to honor Coach Jim Lemmon of Monte Vista as the NCS Girls Basketball Honor Coach! Jim is seen here with his team, and family! Congrats Coach and thanks for all you’ve done over the years for your players and the game! @_MV_Athletics pic.twitter.com/5PfY0VcZvc
— CIF-NCS (@CIFNCS) January 29, 2020