Family, friends gather to reminisce about legendary coach

There are times, no matter the season, when people come together to celebrate.

On Saturday, nearly 100 people gathered at the Thunderbird Inn in Florence to celebrate not just a holiday or a birthday, but a life fulfilled.

Former Terrell’s Bay basketball coach Taft Watson has meant that much to so many folks.

“Just look at the generations (in attendance). His name alone speaks volumes,” said Lashoney Davis, who played on Watson’s 1994 Class A state championship team. “As far as our community goes, he was our messiah.

“He taught us not only the game of basketball, but the game of life.”

In 47 years coaching both boys and girls hoops, Watson won more than 1,200 games. The coaching icon sat stoically and dignified as his life and career were recounted by friends, family and, most importantly, former players.

“(Having so many people here) was shocking. (Having former players at the celebration) was thrilling,” Watson said. “I didn’t know what to say.”

As speeches were made and applause reverberated through the small room, it became evident Watson was more than just a coach to his players. He was a father figure to young players who have grown
to be parents and even grandparents.

Jerome Godbolt, who played on Watson’s first state championship team in 1959, fought back tears as he reminisced about being a member of the Wildcats and playing for a legend.

“As great as (winning a state title) was, what really impressed me about him was the way Mr. Watson treated his players,” he said. “We began every practice and every game with a prayer at the center of the gym.

“I never forgot that.”

Humble beginnings

Watson’s sense of humility and faith come from a different time and place in history.

Born in Green Sea, he was raised in Loris before settling in Marion County.

According to those who know him, Watson’s dreams were to play high school basketball, college basketball and coach. He managed to do all of the above.

After playing high school ball in Mullins, Watson played at Benedict College in Columbia before serving his country.

After a stint in the Marine Corps, Watson returned to Benedict, graduated and began the latter part of his dream. Starting in Loris, Watson ended up coaching a new school called Terrell’s Bay in the early 1950s.

In a time where segregation wasn’t just a de facto form a life, but the law of the South, Watson coached both boys and girls basketball, even when the gym wasn’t actually finished. Yet, his Warrior teams stood toe to toe with the best schools in the state at the time.

“The first two years I coached at Terrell’s Bay, we played outdoors,” he said. “And we still beat some of the bigger schools.”

Watson believed a team that looked like a winner played like one. So he switched the color scheme from maroon and gray to the green and white of the Boston Celtics, one of sports’ winningest franchises.

He then based his coaching philosophy on three words: discipline, anticipation and execution.

“The kids had pride,” Watson said. “We were Terrell’s Bay, and we thought we were the best team on the court.

“We had to look better than the other team. We had to play better than everybody else.”

Spectacular endings

Through the years, Watson sustained a winner at Terrell’s Bay. The girls and boys teams won a combined 37 region championships, while the girls won five state titles and the boys won two.

On March 12, 1994, Watson’s teams accomplished something that hadn’t been done before, or since. At the Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, Terrell’s Bay’s girls team won the Class A state championship with a victory over McBee. A couple hours later, Watson’s boys rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to defeat Williston-Elko and claim the boys’ title.

“I prayed and asked the Lord for both my teams to win on the same day,” Watson said. “I figured it would never happen.”

“The girls had more history than we did. If it weren’t for blocked shots, the girls would have beaten us,” Davis said. “We didn’t want to lose for him after the girls won (the state title).

“It was a gut check for the boys because the girls had done their job. We had unfinished business. We had gotten there many times, but we always fell short. We weren’t going to lose that one.”

Lost history

Drive about seven miles down S.C. 41 Alternate. On the right is a white building with no windows that houses the Marion County District Seven Community Center.

A storage room holds many of Watson’s region and state title trophies and team uniforms that weren’t discarded when Terrell’s Bay was closed and Creek Bridge High School was opened.

Take a right on Centenary Avenue, then a left on Taft Watson Drive. At the end of the road sits what remains of Terrell’s Bay.

“We only had two goals in the gym. Most gyms had six,” Watson said. “I wanted to show my players that we didn’t need six goals to be successful and the kids believed it.”

The walls of the gym are now covered with gang signs and other expletives. The hardwood floors are now worn and warped.

It’s a pitiful fate for a place that once housed a dynasty and a legend.

“All the records were set in that old building,” Watson said. “I had two players that scored 50 points in that gym.

“... It’s sad. They took a few of the trophies down to the community center. It’s seen in the hearts of most of the players, and they’re still bitter about it.”

Said Davis, “(The gym) was a piece of history, and once you forget your history, you forget who you are. (Watson) touched a lot of people. He built that gym in Centenary.”