In the name of the legendary English coach, the first Ron Bennett Boys Basketball Jamboree is ready for tip-off this Friday. The jamboree contains six games, each 45 minutes after the previous with the first beginning at 4 p.m.
English athletic director, and former player under Bennett, Dick Newton, said he feels fortunate to honor his former coach.
“We wanted to bring it back in his name,” Newton said. “I’m lucky enough to be in a position where we can honor him.”
Bennett coached for 41 years at English, beginning in 1965 with basketball and adding baseball to his spring agenda in 1975.
In 2006, he called it a career, eclipsing more than 800 wins between the two sports. The record made Bennett the winningest coach in Lynn history, and he was inducted into the English Hall of Fame in 2013.
Perhaps what drew just as much attention was his persona – Bennett’s old-school, rule-following approach to life was beloved by some, and a subject of controversy from others.
Those who connected with Bennett were known as “Bennett boys.”
“He did so much for the school; he did so much for the kids,” Newton, one of those boys, said.
Regarding the subject of jamborees, Bennett isn’t without history. He started the Elmo Benedetto jamboree in 1986, named after the city wide athletic director of Lynn at the time, which ran until 2015.
In 2018, there was the IAABO Board 130 Officials vs. Cancer Boys Basketball Jamboree. Since then, boys basketball jamborees haven’t taken place, but now, the action returns to a court near you.
The complete schedule for the event follows:
Chelsea vs. Revere (4 p.m.)
KIPP vs. Somerville (4:45 p.m.)
Everett vs. Wakefield (5:30 p.m.)
Tech vs. Malden (6:15)
Classical vs. Melrose (7 p.m.)
English vs. East Boston (7:45 p.m.)
