The court naming came as a surprise to the coach, who graduated from Bethel in 1978.
“It is surreal, especially since I’m alive to see it.” Lightfoot said. “Sometimes they do things when you’re dead. It’s an honor. It’s not just me. It’s my family and everyone who’s put in so much time and sacrifice for me to be here.”
Lightfoot’s numbers in three decades are eye popping to say the least.
Lightfoot has won three NAIA and four NCCAA national championships and 18 league regular season and tournament titles. He has guided the Pilots to 10 seasons with 30 or more wins and 25 campaign with at least 20 wins. He is the NAIA coach who was the quickest in history to reach 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 victories.
Lightfoot’s 786 wins are more than the seven previous Bethel coaches combined. He is 31-12 all-time in the national tournament and has coached 31 NAIA All-Americans and 98 All-Conference players.
The numbers do not tell anything though about what Lightfoot has really been about.
The man who was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2009 has been about family and faith.
Lightfoot and his devoted wife Jacci have two sons, Ryne and Robbie, who both played at NorthWood High School and then for their father at Bethel. Ryne, who has been an assistant coach for his father for the past six years, will replace him as the head coach next season.
Lightfoot has taken numerous missions trips with players in his program and has a graduation rate of 98 percent.
How much does his current team love their coach?
The Pilots are 23-3 this season and lead the Crossroads League at 13-1 after Saturday’s conference win. Bethel has won its last 12 games and are 9-0 since their leader announced his impending retirement a month ago.
But it goes far beyond the wins.
Clay Yeo, one of five seniors for the Pilots, summed it up best a couple of days after Lightfoot made it public that this would be his final season. Yeo, who began his career at Valparaiso University after a brilliant prep career at Triton High School, has returned from a knee injury. Yeo, who is playing in a lot of pain, was injured in November and originally had decided to end his playing career in December and have knee surgery again (Yeo had surgery this past offseason).
Yeo, who led the Pilots with 20 points in the win over Grace on Saturday, changed his mind and decided to endure the pain for the rest of the season in large part due to his coach.
