Grace Davis responds with victory for coach on Dan Pacheco Night

Dan Pacheco earned career victory No. 474 Friday night with a 64-55 Modesto Metro Conference win over Enochs at Robert H. Taylor Gymnasium.

He probably equaled that number in hugs and handshakes from Spartans alumni who were on hand for the last scheduled home game of the coach’s 21-year run at Davis.

The school honored the retiring coach with Dan Pacheco Night. He was greeted by about 40 former players as he took the court for the team’s last regular-season home game this season.

“It was really special,” said Pacheco, who guided the Spartans to six conference championships. “The best thing was walking around and hugging all the kids. It’s a pretty special night for me.”

The Spartans potentially could get a home playoff game when the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs begin next week.

The contest, however, was secondary. With the MMC’s No. 3 postseason berth all but assured heading into Friday’s matchup – Davis officially clinched with the win over the Eagles but would have had another chance against last-place Modesto on Tuesday – the night was about honoring one of the winningest coaches in Stanislaus District history.

Ripon Christian graduate Mark Viss played at Modesto Junior College in 1993-94, when Pacheco was on the staff there.

“He was always more than a basketball coach,” said Viss, who served as Pacheco’s assistant for 15 seasons at Davis. “He would encourage you as a player, but he’d also check up on your grades and tell you ‘good job’ if you were doing well in the classroom. That meant a lot. It showed he cared about more than basketball.”

Sammy Neal, a member of Davis’ Class of 1999, supported Viss’ claim.

“Coach Pacheco was more than a coach to me,” Neal said. “He taught me values that allowed me to succeed in life. He was a good mentor to me.”

Following the junior varsity contest, current and former players formed a “human tunnel” from the Spartans’ locker room to the court. Pacheco made his way through the tunnel, greeting old charges clad in green and gold shirts that read “Davis Basketball” on the front and had the player’s graduating class on the back. He was met at midcourt by Davis athletic director/football coach Tim Garcia, a 1999 Davis grad who played for Pacheco.

“I don’t know how we’re going to fill the hole he leaves,” said Davis principal Mike Rich, a former math teacher, like Pacheco. “It’ll take five people to do what he does, whether it’s giving a kid a ride, getting them something to eat, listening to them or telling them what to do. Once he knows a kid needs something, he’s on it.”

Pacheco, a 1974 graduate of Petaluma High, received a Block D letterman’s jacket and a plaque with replicas of the six league championship banners, the last coming in the 2013-14 season.

Talolo Limu-Jones scored a game-high 18 points and Wilber Villanueva had 17, including three three-pointers in the first quarter, as Davis held off a late charge by Enochs, which was paced by Kalif Johnson with 17 points.

“I think I’ll miss it; it’s been a big part of my life,” Pacheco said. “I’ve played basketball since my freshman year in high school. So, yes, I will miss it, but there are a lot of things out there to do.”

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 2:04 AM with the headline "Grace Davis responds with victory for coach on Dan Pacheco Night."