Seth Owens has been coaching at North District Middle School for so long that he has coached fathers and sons like Alex Murdaugh and Buster Murdaugh and Shelby Strother and his son Brenden.
Owens has been at North District Middle School for 28 years and before that he coached three years at Wade Hampton.
"I always liked the game and working with kids," said Owens.
Owens has had 340 wins and 80 losses during his career. He has won 22 conference championships and 20 tournament conference championships. This year's team is 13-1 and will play in the tournament championship game in Ruffin at 5 p.m. Feb. 11.
It was local coaching legend Phillip Strother who gave Owens his start as a coach. Strother coached Owens when he was in high school and later gave him his first taste of coaching at the high school and recommended Owens for the job at North District.
"I had a lot of people working with me coming up as a kid and it's a way to give back," said Owens.
Owens was hired when Willie Coker was principal.
"When I got the job Willie Coker made me feel at home and made me feel like I was a part of a family," said Owens. "And Robert Gibson and I have been working with each other for 25 years and we have a good working relationship."
Owens has liked basketball ever since he played for Phillip Strother in high school.
"Basically I like the sport because I was pretty good at it and it's a team sport," said Owens. "I played point guard most of the time. Often I was a leader of the team."
This experience is what eventually led to Owens coaching as many years as he has. Owens started out playing for Wade Hampton as a point guard for 1975-77 and then played a couple of years for Benedict College.
There are two things Owens knows - basketball and kids.
"Working with kids, they are all different," said Owens. "You have to work with each one of them to reach their potential and to work together as a unit."
With Owens, academics come first and being a gentleman comes second. Each day Owens starts his coaching session with a pep talk and advice on how to be a good student, a gentleman and a good athlete.
Owens talks to teachers so he knows who is doing well in school and who isn't. He also knows who is on good behavior. Owens doesn't just teach kids basketball, he teaches them about life.
However, as much as Owens likes basketball and as much as he likes kids, he feels its time for him to retire from coaching.
"I did it for 28 years and it's time to give another person a chance," said Owens. "People gave me an opportunity and now it's time to give someone else the opportunity."
Owens will still work at the Savannah River Site where he has worked for 24 years, the last 22 as a supervisor. He also is an amateur golfer.
"I think I will play a lot of golf and I think I will do a lot of volunteer work with kids in the community," said Owens.
Owens was born and raised in Hampton and now lives in Varnville. He has two sons, Christopher who is in the Army in Texas and Seth Kendrell who lives in Savannah. Owens has a sister, Josephine Hall, and a brother, Louis Owens, and four grandchildren.