Most of us have people that we run into or work with on a consistent professional basis. I certainly do. I have built relationships with youth athletes, coaches and athletic administrators across the Truckee Meadows and Silver State.

As with any job, I suppose, there are contacts you are indifferent about, others you look forward to working with and others you'd rather just avoid.

The longer I'm in this sports journalism business the more people I see come and go, especially when it comes to turnover among high school coaches. One thing I thought I could always count on was seeing Paul Gray roaming the sidelines for the Reed High basketball program. Unfortunately for me, that's not the case.

Gray announced his resignation Thursday as the Raiders' boys hoops coach, saying he will be taking over as the dean of students for the RHS freshman class. The veteran coach said it would be unfair to the positions if he tried to do both.

In my 11-plus years here at the Sparks Tribune, I'm not sure if there's a local coach who has earned my respect more than Gray. One of my biggest pet peeves as a reporter is when coaches are your best friend after a win, but then if they lose they try to avoid you like the plague.

That was never Gray. He oversaw a pretty successful program, but also had his fair share of tough losses along the way. I'm sure a regional semifinal loss to Galena in 2005 and a state semifinal loss to Foothill in 2004 were among those. There were times that Gray had players holding back tears — and some who couldn't — when I'm sure he was struggling with the same feelings.

And yet, on each and every occasion like that, Gray always made time to give me a few comments so I could tell a better story to you the readers. Sometimes, I gave him a few more minutes to compose himself. There were a few times I even followed up with a call after an hour or so. But I could never have done that if I feared he would ignore me later.

I never had to worry about that and that was always appreciated.

I wouldn't be suprised if there are times coach Gray's wife, Lori, asks him a question and she gets a longer answer than she wanted. But I loved that. With some coaches it's like pulling teeth to get them to string a few coherent sentences together, but not with coach Gray. I could often ask him my first question and get the answer to each follow-up question I was prepared to ask. That's a reporter's delight.

When coach Gray called me Thursday evening to inform me of the resignation news, we had a lengthy conversation. He said he appreciated my professionalism and always felt he and his athletes were treated fairly.

Those comments meant a lot to me, but the respect is definitely mutual. I've watched Gray's teams improve from the season's beginning to end. I've seen him provide a strong voice and good leadership in the Northern Nevada Basketball Coaches' Association. It's hard not to notice the number of former Reed players who have come back to coach with Gray and even moved on to coach at other schools. Coach Gray builds strong, positive relationships with the people around him.

He's the type of coach I'd like my son Bryce to play for someday. He's a great coach and better person and I'll miss our frequent chats during the winter. Good luck in your future adventures, coach!

Dan Eckles is the Sparks Tribune's sports editor. He can be reached via email at:

deckles@dailysparkstribune.com