Riverside names gym in honor of former basketball coach Jim Forbes

Riverside High School announced plans this summer to honor some of the best head coaches they’ve ever had.

That included naming their football stadium after Tom Work and baseball field after Jim Melendez.

On Monday, the Rangers honored legendary basketball coach Jim Forbes by naming the gym in his honor.

Forbes spent 20 years with the Riverside boys basketball program, guiding them to a Final Four appearance in the 1994-95 season.

Now the head coach at Andress, Forbes fondly recalled his Riverside days at Monday’s naming ceremony.

“Every year, each team was different. And believe it or not, I enjoyed every team that I had and all the players that came through here,” he said. “The players made my job easier.”

Forbes was an All-American at Bel Air High School, played for Don Haskins at UTEP, was a member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team, and was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1974 NBA Draft.

Though incredibly accomplished as a player, perhaps his best talent was motivating the teams he coached to reach their full potential.

The 1994-95 team at Bel Air was no exception. Forbes recalled telling the team after they lost in the area round the year before that they could make history.

“And I told them that coming back we had ten seniors, and I said they had the ability to get to the Final Four and possibly win a state championship,” said Forbes. “And we started the next year just playing 50/50 ball. And then we picked it up and made our way to Austin.”