Published in The Commercial Appeal on Feb. 18, 2015
East High basketball coach Desmond Merriweather dies at age 41
By John Varlas of The Commercial Appeal
Mitchell basketball coach Faragi Phillips didn’t know Desmond Merriweather well. But he couldn’t help but be impressed.
“We were both young coaches starting out at the same time,” he said. “But even then, you could see the kind of respect he commanded. In timeouts, the players would be hanging on his every word.
“That’s because he once was what they were, a young kid from the hood in Binghampton trying to make it.”
And in ways both measurable and subjective, he did.
Mr. Merriweather, East High’s first-year boys basketball coach, died Sunday after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 41.
“I knew this day was coming,” said Bennie Price, a longtime family friend. “But it’s still hard to accept.”
Mr. Merriweather was a standout player at East in the early 1990s before playing at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.
Before taking over at East, Mr. Merriweather was a highly successful coach at Lester Middle School, where, with close friend Penny Hardaway, he led the Lions to three state championships.
The Merriweather-Hardaway relationship has been chronicled by numerous local and national media members. But regardless of how much his health allowed him to be involved, Mr. Merriweather always put his team front and center.
“He paid for his team to come to team camp here at UT Martin out of his own pocket,” said current Skyhawks assistant and former Melrose coach Jermaine Johnson.
“He would come to my games when I was at Melrose and encourage me. ... We lost Dean Smith today but Dez was like a Dean Smith (version) of a grass roots coach.”
And off the court, Mr. Merriweather’s constant positivity in the face of his cancer battle — one that lasted some six years — amazed people.
“I saw him once at a Martin Luther King (tournament) game at Melrose,” said JerMilton Woods, a marketing coordinator at Tennessee State.
“I asked him how he was doing and he said, ‘I’ve never had it so good. I’m alive and that’s all that matters.’ I wish I had that strength. It came from God.”
Price, whose ties to the Lester community and the Merriweather family go back decades, recalled visiting Merriweather in the hospital.
“I had pictures of my teammates at Lester (then a high school),” he said. “Guys like Claude Humphrey, Charlie Paulk. And he said, ‘Can you bring me a picture of the old team?’ He said he wanted to hang it in his office after he got the East job.
“And I said, ‘don’t worry about the pictures; you just get well.’ And pretty soon we were laughing and he was cheering me up.
“He told me one day, ‘I’d like to die on the bench with my players.’ He was just the type to never give up.”
Mr. Merriweather is survived by his wife, Inga, and three children, one of whom, Nick Merriweather, is a member of East’s team. The Mustangs are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Whitehaven in the first round of the District 16-AAA tournament.
Funeral arrangements were unavailable at press time.
Same edition:
COACH DESMOND SCOTT MERRIWEATHER, 41, of Memphis, died February 8, 2015. Desmond was a basketball Coach at East High School and former Basketball Coach at Lester Middle School. Visitation, 12-5 p.m. Friday, February 20. Memorial 5-7 p.m. at Zion Templel COGIC, 2935 Sam Cooper Blvd. Servcies 11 a.m. Saturday, February 21 at First Baptist Broad Church, 2835 Broad Ave., Memphis, TN 38112. Burial in Memorial Park Cemetery, Poplar. He leaves his wife Inga Merriweather; daughter, Ziona Merriweather; sons, Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas; mother Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith; father (Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.; sisters, April Scott of Memphis and De’Ja Scott of Crestview, FL; brothers, Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr. of Memphis, Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview, FL; grandparents, Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith.
*****************************************
Desmond Merriweather
August 31, 1973 - February 8, 2015
Life Legacy
He leaves his wife: Inga Merriweather
Daughters: Ziona Merriweather
Sons: Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas
Mother: Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith Father: Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.
Sisters: April Scott of Memphis Tennessee and De’Ja Scott of Crestview Florida
Brothers: Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr., of Memphis Tennessee; Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview Florida
Grandparents Ms. Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith
Owens & Son Funeral Home
East High basketball coach Desmond Merriweather dies at age 41
By John Varlas of The Commercial Appeal
Mitchell basketball coach Faragi Phillips didn’t know Desmond Merriweather well. But he couldn’t help but be impressed.
“We were both young coaches starting out at the same time,” he said. “But even then, you could see the kind of respect he commanded. In timeouts, the players would be hanging on his every word.
“That’s because he once was what they were, a young kid from the hood in Binghampton trying to make it.”
And in ways both measurable and subjective, he did.
Mr. Merriweather, East High’s first-year boys basketball coach, died Sunday after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 41.
“I knew this day was coming,” said Bennie Price, a longtime family friend. “But it’s still hard to accept.”
Mr. Merriweather was a standout player at East in the early 1990s before playing at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.
Before taking over at East, Mr. Merriweather was a highly successful coach at Lester Middle School, where, with close friend Penny Hardaway, he led the Lions to three state championships.
The Merriweather-Hardaway relationship has been chronicled by numerous local and national media members. But regardless of how much his health allowed him to be involved, Mr. Merriweather always put his team front and center.
“He paid for his team to come to team camp here at UT Martin out of his own pocket,” said current Skyhawks assistant and former Melrose coach Jermaine Johnson.
“He would come to my games when I was at Melrose and encourage me. ... We lost Dean Smith today but Dez was like a Dean Smith (version) of a grass roots coach.”
And off the court, Mr. Merriweather’s constant positivity in the face of his cancer battle — one that lasted some six years — amazed people.
“I saw him once at a Martin Luther King (tournament) game at Melrose,” said JerMilton Woods, a marketing coordinator at Tennessee State.
“I asked him how he was doing and he said, ‘I’ve never had it so good. I’m alive and that’s all that matters.’ I wish I had that strength. It came from God.”
Price, whose ties to the Lester community and the Merriweather family go back decades, recalled visiting Merriweather in the hospital.
“I had pictures of my teammates at Lester (then a high school),” he said. “Guys like Claude Humphrey, Charlie Paulk. And he said, ‘Can you bring me a picture of the old team?’ He said he wanted to hang it in his office after he got the East job.
“And I said, ‘don’t worry about the pictures; you just get well.’ And pretty soon we were laughing and he was cheering me up.
“He told me one day, ‘I’d like to die on the bench with my players.’ He was just the type to never give up.”
Mr. Merriweather is survived by his wife, Inga, and three children, one of whom, Nick Merriweather, is a member of East’s team. The Mustangs are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Whitehaven in the first round of the District 16-AAA tournament.
Funeral arrangements were unavailable at press time.
Same edition:
COACH DESMOND SCOTT MERRIWEATHER, 41, of Memphis, died February 8, 2015. Desmond was a basketball Coach at East High School and former Basketball Coach at Lester Middle School. Visitation, 12-5 p.m. Friday, February 20. Memorial 5-7 p.m. at Zion Templel COGIC, 2935 Sam Cooper Blvd. Servcies 11 a.m. Saturday, February 21 at First Baptist Broad Church, 2835 Broad Ave., Memphis, TN 38112. Burial in Memorial Park Cemetery, Poplar. He leaves his wife Inga Merriweather; daughter, Ziona Merriweather; sons, Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas; mother Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith; father (Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.; sisters, April Scott of Memphis and De’Ja Scott of Crestview, FL; brothers, Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr. of Memphis, Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview, FL; grandparents, Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith.
*****************************************
Desmond Merriweather
August 31, 1973 - February 8, 2015
Life Legacy
He leaves his wife: Inga Merriweather
Daughters: Ziona Merriweather
Sons: Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas
Mother: Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith Father: Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.
Sisters: April Scott of Memphis Tennessee and De’Ja Scott of Crestview Florida
Brothers: Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr., of Memphis Tennessee; Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview Florida
Grandparents Ms. Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith
Owens & Son Funeral Home
Published in The Commercial Appeal on Feb. 18, 2015
East High basketball coach Desmond Merriweather dies at age 41
By John Varlas of The Commercial Appeal
Mitchell basketball coach Faragi Phillips didn’t know Desmond Merriweather well. But he couldn’t help but be impressed.
“We were both young coaches starting out at the same time,” he said. “But even then, you could see the kind of respect he commanded. In timeouts, the players would be hanging on his every word.
“That’s because he once was what they were, a young kid from the hood in Binghampton trying to make it.”
And in ways both measurable and subjective, he did.
Mr. Merriweather, East High’s first-year boys basketball coach, died Sunday after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 41.
“I knew this day was coming,” said Bennie Price, a longtime family friend. “But it’s still hard to accept.”
Mr. Merriweather was a standout player at East in the early 1990s before playing at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.
Before taking over at East, Mr. Merriweather was a highly successful coach at Lester Middle School, where, with close friend Penny Hardaway, he led the Lions to three state championships.
The Merriweather-Hardaway relationship has been chronicled by numerous local and national media members. But regardless of how much his health allowed him to be involved, Mr. Merriweather always put his team front and center.
“He paid for his team to come to team camp here at UT Martin out of his own pocket,” said current Skyhawks assistant and former Melrose coach Jermaine Johnson.
“He would come to my games when I was at Melrose and encourage me. ... We lost Dean Smith today but Dez was like a Dean Smith (version) of a grass roots coach.”
And off the court, Mr. Merriweather’s constant positivity in the face of his cancer battle — one that lasted some six years — amazed people.
“I saw him once at a Martin Luther King (tournament) game at Melrose,” said JerMilton Woods, a marketing coordinator at Tennessee State.
“I asked him how he was doing and he said, ‘I’ve never had it so good. I’m alive and that’s all that matters.’ I wish I had that strength. It came from God.”
Price, whose ties to the Lester community and the Merriweather family go back decades, recalled visiting Merriweather in the hospital.
“I had pictures of my teammates at Lester (then a high school),” he said. “Guys like Claude Humphrey, Charlie Paulk. And he said, ‘Can you bring me a picture of the old team?’ He said he wanted to hang it in his office after he got the East job.
“And I said, ‘don’t worry about the pictures; you just get well.’ And pretty soon we were laughing and he was cheering me up.
“He told me one day, ‘I’d like to die on the bench with my players.’ He was just the type to never give up.”
Mr. Merriweather is survived by his wife, Inga, and three children, one of whom, Nick Merriweather, is a member of East’s team. The Mustangs are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Whitehaven in the first round of the District 16-AAA tournament.
Funeral arrangements were unavailable at press time.
Same edition:
COACH DESMOND SCOTT MERRIWEATHER, 41, of Memphis, died February 8, 2015. Desmond was a basketball Coach at East High School and former Basketball Coach at Lester Middle School. Visitation, 12-5 p.m. Friday, February 20. Memorial 5-7 p.m. at Zion Templel COGIC, 2935 Sam Cooper Blvd. Servcies 11 a.m. Saturday, February 21 at First Baptist Broad Church, 2835 Broad Ave., Memphis, TN 38112. Burial in Memorial Park Cemetery, Poplar. He leaves his wife Inga Merriweather; daughter, Ziona Merriweather; sons, Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas; mother Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith; father (Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.; sisters, April Scott of Memphis and De’Ja Scott of Crestview, FL; brothers, Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr. of Memphis, Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview, FL; grandparents, Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith.
*****************************************
Desmond Merriweather
August 31, 1973 - February 8, 2015
Life Legacy
He leaves his wife: Inga Merriweather
Daughters: Ziona Merriweather
Sons: Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas
Mother: Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith Father: Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.
Sisters: April Scott of Memphis Tennessee and De’Ja Scott of Crestview Florida
Brothers: Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr., of Memphis Tennessee; Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview Florida
Grandparents Ms. Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith
Owens & Son Funeral Home
East High basketball coach Desmond Merriweather dies at age 41
By John Varlas of The Commercial Appeal
Mitchell basketball coach Faragi Phillips didn’t know Desmond Merriweather well. But he couldn’t help but be impressed.
“We were both young coaches starting out at the same time,” he said. “But even then, you could see the kind of respect he commanded. In timeouts, the players would be hanging on his every word.
“That’s because he once was what they were, a young kid from the hood in Binghampton trying to make it.”
And in ways both measurable and subjective, he did.
Mr. Merriweather, East High’s first-year boys basketball coach, died Sunday after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 41.
“I knew this day was coming,” said Bennie Price, a longtime family friend. “But it’s still hard to accept.”
Mr. Merriweather was a standout player at East in the early 1990s before playing at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee.
Before taking over at East, Mr. Merriweather was a highly successful coach at Lester Middle School, where, with close friend Penny Hardaway, he led the Lions to three state championships.
The Merriweather-Hardaway relationship has been chronicled by numerous local and national media members. But regardless of how much his health allowed him to be involved, Mr. Merriweather always put his team front and center.
“He paid for his team to come to team camp here at UT Martin out of his own pocket,” said current Skyhawks assistant and former Melrose coach Jermaine Johnson.
“He would come to my games when I was at Melrose and encourage me. ... We lost Dean Smith today but Dez was like a Dean Smith (version) of a grass roots coach.”
And off the court, Mr. Merriweather’s constant positivity in the face of his cancer battle — one that lasted some six years — amazed people.
“I saw him once at a Martin Luther King (tournament) game at Melrose,” said JerMilton Woods, a marketing coordinator at Tennessee State.
“I asked him how he was doing and he said, ‘I’ve never had it so good. I’m alive and that’s all that matters.’ I wish I had that strength. It came from God.”
Price, whose ties to the Lester community and the Merriweather family go back decades, recalled visiting Merriweather in the hospital.
“I had pictures of my teammates at Lester (then a high school),” he said. “Guys like Claude Humphrey, Charlie Paulk. And he said, ‘Can you bring me a picture of the old team?’ He said he wanted to hang it in his office after he got the East job.
“And I said, ‘don’t worry about the pictures; you just get well.’ And pretty soon we were laughing and he was cheering me up.
“He told me one day, ‘I’d like to die on the bench with my players.’ He was just the type to never give up.”
Mr. Merriweather is survived by his wife, Inga, and three children, one of whom, Nick Merriweather, is a member of East’s team. The Mustangs are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Whitehaven in the first round of the District 16-AAA tournament.
Funeral arrangements were unavailable at press time.
Same edition:
COACH DESMOND SCOTT MERRIWEATHER, 41, of Memphis, died February 8, 2015. Desmond was a basketball Coach at East High School and former Basketball Coach at Lester Middle School. Visitation, 12-5 p.m. Friday, February 20. Memorial 5-7 p.m. at Zion Templel COGIC, 2935 Sam Cooper Blvd. Servcies 11 a.m. Saturday, February 21 at First Baptist Broad Church, 2835 Broad Ave., Memphis, TN 38112. Burial in Memorial Park Cemetery, Poplar. He leaves his wife Inga Merriweather; daughter, Ziona Merriweather; sons, Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas; mother Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith; father (Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.; sisters, April Scott of Memphis and De’Ja Scott of Crestview, FL; brothers, Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr. of Memphis, Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview, FL; grandparents, Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith.
*****************************************
Desmond Merriweather
August 31, 1973 - February 8, 2015
Life Legacy
He leaves his wife: Inga Merriweather
Daughters: Ziona Merriweather
Sons: Nikcolauz Merriweather and Robert Thomas
Mother: Nadolyn (Marvin) Smith Father: Kevin (Shirley) Scott, Sr.
Sisters: April Scott of Memphis Tennessee and De’Ja Scott of Crestview Florida
Brothers: Mardrakus Merriweather and Kevin Scott Jr., of Memphis Tennessee; Markelly Scott, Kordai Scott and Kyan Scott of Crestview Florida
Grandparents Ms. Isadora Scott and Ms. Susie Smith
Owens & Son Funeral Home
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
