Reuben Fatheree, head boys basketball coach at Foster High School, isn’t afraid to be tough on his big man; his son, Reuben “Deuce” Fatheree II.
“His sophomore, junior, and this year have been great,” said Reuben. “Freshman year was growing pains; he had to learn the other side of dad, but it’s been really cool.”
“As a coach, he’s a lot meaner,” laughed Deuce. “He has to get us in line and everything. You know, as a dad, he’ll come home and just say, like, ‘good job working today, proud of you, proud of the things you’ve done,’ so he’s surprisingly turns it on and off easily.”
It’s been four years of the Fatheree father/son duo.
“It’s been a lot of fun; he’s learned a lot, I’ve learned a lot. We’ve grown together,” said Reuben.
It’s the second head coach/player relationship in the family. Deuce’s mom was the head girls coach at Foster and coached his older sister. KPRC did a story on the mother/daughter duo back in 2011, and there was a similar dynamic between the two of them.
Reuben and Deuce have created a family atmosphere on this Foster Falcons team.
“Even Deuce’s mom has treated me like family, their whole family has treated me like family,” said junior Chancellor White. “So it’s pretty fun.”
When senior night came around, it was rough on dad; Reuben had to pause and got teary-eyed when addressing Deuce.
“For six, seven years he’s been on my hip, so it was tough,” said Reuben.
“It was tough for him, it caught me off guard too, I didn’t think he would cry,” said Deuce.
Coach is most proud of his son’s maturity.
“Just some of the things he asks. You go from the little boy conversations to the big boy conversations and, right now, it’s adult conversations.”
Their latest adult conversation? Where Deuce will play college football. He chose Texas A&M in large part so his family can watch.
“It always feels good, you know, looking up in the stands and seeing that my family is there to support me, it means a lot,” said Deuce.
It will be a new chapter as this special one comes to an end.
“It’s definitely a blessing,” said Deuce. “You know, not a lot of people can say they’re coached by their dad, I’m taking it as a blessing.”