Former MJC basketball coach, who led team to first title in 34 years, dies at 77
Tom Conway, who guided the Modesto Junior College basketball team for 14 years until his retirement in 1997, died last week at the age of 77.
He passed away at his home in Stockton on May 3, according to The Record.
He led the Pirates to one Camino Norte Conference title in the 1990-91 season, and had his biggest success in Stockton, where he guided Stagg High to a 53-0 record and two section titles over two seasons in the 1970s.
His overall coaching record was 485-282.
His prowess on the sidelines was passed on to players, and assistant coaches, including Bob Thomason, who had success at Columbia College and Stanislaus State before taking the reins at the University of the Pacific.
“He was a fantastic coach and person, and we hit it off right away. I learned a lot about leadership,” Thomason told The Record’s Scott Linesburgh. “He was smart and taught me how to get along with players. And he would listen to what you said. He wouldn’t not do everything I said, but he listened, and I always respected him for that.”
Conway’s signature year at MJC came in the 1990-1991 season, when the team rallied from a slow start to go 6-2 in the CNC, winning the team’s first conference title since 1957, when it played in the Big 8.
The team, nicknamed the “ugly ducklings,” didn’t do any one thing spectacularly, but in finishing the regular season with an unremarkable 15-15 record and a share of the crown with Merced, it did display the characteristics of a Conway-coached team.
“It comes down to the heart,” said forward Chris Guptill at the time. “We get down on the floor. We believe we can win.”
In December 2015, before a team reunion at the 78th annual Modesto Junior College basketball tournament, Conway said as much.
“We moved the ball and shared it. There was no star,” he said. “They could shoot, and they were all good kids and all local. They were a fun group.”
The Pirates lost in the first round of the Northern California championships, but Conway was named CNC coach of the year, the first Pirate coach to achieve that.
Six years later, Conway decided to retire from coaching, wanting to return to the classroom full time.
“After 30 years as a head coach at the high school and college level I just felt that there was a need for a change,” he said at the time of his retirement. “All of a sudden I looked around and saw that it’s a young person’s game.
“Some of the coaches I’ve admired through the years at MJC all stepped down from coaching before their retirement years and let young coaches take over the program, so I’m not setting any precedent here.”
There was no immediate information about a service.
