Great Lakes Hoops

I heard from a couple friends in the last two days that the health of Dave Barns, the son of Goodrich basketball coach Gary Barns, is rapidly deteriorating.

There’s no need to get into specifics, but this is a family that needs even more support than they have already received from the basketball community. I don’t have a relationship with Coach Barnes or his son, but people I care about and respect think the world of both of them.

Dave Barns, who coached the JV team at Goodrich, was was diagnosed last year with cancer and has faced a long and difficult road.

To make matters worse, the Barns family has had to deal with what many people, myself included, believe to be a self-serving, trumped-up controversy that led some in the small town to call for his resignation last school year. The issues, it seems, stem from a few players and parents who were jealous of some “Schools of Choices” players who started on the team and played a lot of minutes, ostensibly because they are better at basketball. There were other complaints as well about players being talked down to by the coach, but they are dubious, to say the least.

Here’s what I know: This is a good family, a good man and a situation that demands our prayers and concern.