Diary No. 5: Muir Basketball Coach Dr. Gamal Smalley at the Final Four

Muir boys basketball coach Gamal Smalley is in Houston for the weekend to attend the National Association of Basketball Coaches Convention and check out the Final Four. He'll be sending Patch updates about his trip throughout the weekend.

Dear Patch.com,

Well Monday’s NCAA Championship game was a wonderful experience for my family and me, and it has been a lot of fun sharing our daily activities with you all back home via Patch.com. The beauty of the sport is that it galvanizes people together from all walks of life in a positive way and gives the human spirit a chance to shine while embracing team and school. 

Monday my wife won a MP 3 player at the NABC Coach’s Wives Bingo party, so she was in Heaven. Folks, she was in heaven when she won her first prize, which was two scented soap bars — she just loves bingo! 

Overall the trip was very motivational with folks representing schools from all over the country. I can’t wait to get back home and continue to share this feeling with our student-athletes at John Muir High. We have great camaraderie and unity at our school that often gets overlooked, but I am confident that we are moving in the right direction. Sometimes a very small portion can bring about a negative image that is difficult to overcome, but the Mustang family is truly a family. I see it every day. Heading home Tuesday morning, but we had a great time!

Thanks for sharing with us,

Coach Smalley