Nebraska High School Basketball loses a great coach

Even though the glorious July son was shining down on the beautiful stretches of Nebraska from border to border today, the high school coaching ranks were frozen in their foot steps with the news St. Marys basketball coach Gary Chvala had passed. The 64 year old coaching great died this morning leaving in his blazing trail 543 career wins, a milestone only 12 other high school hoops coaches had surpassed. The always smiling Chvala had amasssed a record of 69-4 the past 3 seasons at the athletic-rich O'Neill parochial school. In March of this season, Chvala guided St. Marys to a 3rd place finish at the State Boys Basketball Tournament. That followed an undefeated (28-0) season in 2012 and a State Championship in Class D-1.

Gary Chvala was given the Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 2012 by the Nebraska Coaches Association. Gary finished his 40 year coaching career with an astonishing 543-282 mark. Countless former athletes who played for Coach Chvala over the years all came to the same conclusions. Quotes such as..."he is there day and night it seems, helping all of us become better athletes and men", " he was without a doubt, one of the true legends of coaching in Nebraska", or maybe the one that sums it all up, "Coach Chvala taught us all how to do the right thing in all phases of life, and to how to be successful human beings for the remainder of our days on earth."

Services for Coach Chvala are pending at Biglins Mortuary in O'Neill.