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del.icio.usFormer coach Stan Pulliam dies
BY JONATHAN LONG
The Wichita Eagle
Stan Pulliam retired from coaching in 1992, but it was something he never stopped doing.
Whether it was helping a family member through a difficult situation or counseling his son, Heights girls basketball coach Kip Pulliam, Stan Pulliam was dedicated to making the lives of those around him better.
Mr. Pulliam, 65, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack.
"He was a great coach and a great father figure," said Kip Pulliam, one of Mr. Pulliam's four children. "He was a father that wanted you to do your best. He made us work hard. We might not have always liked it. But as we grew older, we appreciated it. He prepared us for life after high school."
After starring as a player at Derby High, Mr. Pulliam began his career coaching boys and girls basketball at Sands High School in Ackerly, Texas, before moving to Wichita to coach at Valley Center and Campus.
Pulliam coached Kip into a star player at Campus. Kip credits his father as the biggest influence in both his playing days and today as a coach.
"He actually doesn't get the credit he deserves in what we've built at Heights," said Pulliam, who's won two state titles in four years. He'd sit three rows behind me at all the games and I'd always call him after every game."
Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Pleasantview Baptist Church, 1335 N. Buckner Street in Derby.
Jonathan Long covers high school sports. Reach him at 316-268-6296 or at jlong@wichitaeagle.com.
