Canzano: A coach, a shirt, and the strength of community

Scott Kellar keeps lifting those around him.

Scott Kellar with his team at Century High School.

Last May, doctors found cancer on one of Scott Kellar’s kidneys. The organ was removed. A few months later, the cancer came back. This time as a growth on his lung.

“Renal cell carcinoma,” doctors said.

The head boys basketball coach at Century High School has been through some stuff. Surgery. Chemotherapy. A clinical trial. A pile of emergency room visits, MRIs and some overnight stays in the hospital, too.

“Scott is selfless, humble and caring,” his brother, Bill, told me.

The coach kept showing up for his team this season. One evening, in the thick of those miserable cancer treatments, he asked his wife, Katrina, if she would drive him to the gym. He slipped through a back door to the locker room and delivered a two-minute speech before his team took the floor in a victory over Forest Grove High.

“Two good minutes,” he said from a folding chair, “is all I have in me right now.”

In the speech, the cancer-stricken coach instructed his players to stop worrying about the small stuff — forget about playing time and officiating — and focus instead on how lucky they were to be able to suit up. He urged his players to find joy and he talked about that night’s basketball game as if it were a gift.

With glassy eyes and a cracking voice, the coach asked: “Can you play for each other? Will you?”

Then, they did.

I keep hearing that high school basketball isn’t as meaningful as it used to be. That club coaches have seized control of the system. Maybe that’s true in some places, but I’d challenge anyone to examine the lessons Kellar has taught on campus in Hillsboro over the last 25 years and find a more meaningful body of work.

Former West Linn High basketball coach Eric Viuhkola called Kellar “a wonderful person and one of the absolute best coaches in high school basketball in our state.” Lake Oswego’s Marshall Cho described Kellar with words such as “inspiring” and “positive.”

Earlier this season, Kellar went to scout a game and ended up with a fever of 103 degrees. He landed in the ER. Another time, the coach left the hospital so he could be on the bench. He won his 400th career game. It came against his alma mater, Glencoe High. After the game, Kellar went back in the hospital.

“Others always come first,” Bill said.

I suppose we could end the column right here. I could link to the GoFundMe that his son set up and tell you to help the coach who lifted up so many others over the years. But first, I want to tell you about a T-shirt.

Marcus Harvey at his old school.

Marcus Harvey was a senior at Century High in 2008 when he was put in charge of running the student store. He knew nothing about designing or printing shirts. But one of his assignments was to create a shirt for “Kellar’s Krew” — the student club that cheered for the basketball team.

Harvey found the lone computer on campus that had Adobe Illustrator software. He came up with a design. Then, he sourced T-shirts and placed his first order.

“I only ordered 36 shirts to start,” he said. “I didn’t know if anyone would buy them.”

Retail price: $10.

Throughout the season, a curious thing happened. Students and parents kept buying the shirts. Harvey kept ordering them. By the end of that season, on Senior Night, the entire gym was filled with fans wearing “Kellar’s Krew” T-shirts.

Harvey told me on Sunday morning: “It transformed and shaped my life for good seeing so many people wear something that I’d made.”

After high school, Harvey went off to college at the University of Oregon. He eventually founded Portland Gear. Today, that company prints tens of thousands of shirts. The brand is wildly popular and an asset to our region. That old high school basketball coach deserves a small assist.

This week, Harvey did exactly that. He announced that he was “bringing back the shirt that started it all.” Portland Gear is selling a special “Kellar’s Krew” shirt on its website. All the profit from sales of the shirt will be donated to Kellar’s GoFundMe.

“Great guy,” said Harvey. “A staple in the Hillsboro community forever. Who stays for 25 years at the same school? Amazing.”

I’m sure there are lots of stories about how Scott Kellar has lifted those around him. His colleagues rave about him. His team plays for him. And his former players show up to support his program long after they’ve graduated.

What’s that? Sports is rampant with selfishness? Players and coaches are in it for themselves these days? Kellar’s commitment to servant-leadership sure flies in the face of that.

I’m rooting for Kellar. I know a lot of you are, too. He’s in the battle of his lifetime and continues to show up big for so many.

There is strength in numbers, we’re told. But Scott Kellar’s story is proof that a community can find it in a basketball coach, too.

---

I appreciate all who read, support, subscribe and share this new, independent, endeavor with friends and families. If you’re not already a “paid” subscriber, please consider a subscription or a gift subscription for someone else:

This is an independent reader-supported project, with both free and paid subscriptions. Those who opt for the paid edition are providing vital assistance to bolster my independent coverage. Paid subscribers have full access to all of my posts.