It’s NCAA Tourney Time, so we’re talking some hoops and aging with someone who knows both well – Tom Hyder. Tom is coordinator of Minnesota’s Vital Aging Network. He previously served as head of the ElderCare Rights Alliance in the Twin Cities and head of the Area Agency on Aging in Corvallis, Oregon. But before that, this son of the South played guard for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, where his father, the legendary John Carl "Whack" Hyder, served as head coach from 1951-1973 and coached Tom from 1969-1973.

Coach Hyder, who died in 2003, at age 90, was dubbed "The Kentucky Killer." In 1955, the Hyder-led Yellow Jackets made sports history, ending coach Adolph Rupp’s and the University of Kentucky Wildcats’ 129 home-game winning streak. Hyder coached in the NCAA Tourney and was twice named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year before Tech joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. But get this – in 22 years as head coach, only one of his players left Georgia Tech without a degree. In a high-pressure sport, Coach Hyder, was a cool, calm presence. Here’s more with Tom:

As a kid, and as a major college player, you’ve had access to some great hoops memories, can you share some of those?

My earliest memories as a child are from an era in college athletics that no longer exists. Back in the late 50’s, many college coaches were friends and socialized with each other. I remember when Press Maravich (father of the great Pistol Pete) and the head coach from the University of Georgia (arch enemies of everyone who went to Georgia Tech) would come to our house, have dinner with my father and stay up late telling stories. That would never happen in today’s world of sports.

There’s more to the Adolph Rupp story than you mentioned. Tech played Kentucky twice in 1955. Before the second game in Tech’s dilapidated old gym, Rupp asked my dad to meet with him and the Kentucky team, and he asked him "what’s your aim in basketball?" My father replied "First, for our kids to lead a good, moral life. Next I want them to graduate. Third, when it came time, I wanted them to concentrate on basketball." Rupp loudly told him, "You can’t do that. Boys aren’t that way any more." That conversation happened two hours before Tech beat the national champion Kentucky team for the second time that year.

The first college game in which I played made history. It was 1970 when there was a no-dunk rule in college put in place to equalize Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) from UCLA. The rule went into effect 20 minutes before the game started, so no dunks were allowed in warm-ups. We played Oklahoma City University whose 7 foot center dunked it before the game and was called for a technical foul. We started the game shooting a foul shot and were one point ahead when the game started. We won by one point.

Since I was 6 ft 7 inches and played guard, I would often defend the best player on a team. The toughest assignment I clearly remember was attempting to guard All American David Thompson from North Carolina State. He was 6′ 6", averaged 36 points per game, and could literally touch the top of a backboard. To make it harder, they had a 7′ 4" center named Tom Burleson who would set picks for him the entire game. The game was nationally televised, so I especially wanted to play well. We lost. I held Thompson to 36 that night.

My father retired from coaching in 1973, the year I graduated. My proudest moment in sports was our last home game that year against arch-rival Georgia. They had 5 high school All Americans on their team and by far the better record, but there was no way we were going to lose. We all played for my father that night. Everyone on our team had the best game of their career. That’s the only game I ever played and never missed a shot. I scored 10. We won by 10.

What was it like to play for your dad?

The pressure was always on. I wasn’t a natural athlete, so I would push myself to become a good player. I would always stay after practice to shoot more and run extra laps. I realized later that much of that effort was to please him and try to meet what I thought was his expectation of me. It made me a better player, but there definitely was a stress on our relationship. We weren’t able (or didn’t know how) to talk about it until after he retired and I graduated. I’m very thankful we talked it through and grew and stayed close.

Your dad lived to 90, how did he age?

My father was the embodiment of vital aging. After he retired, he stayed active with Georgia Tech as an ambassador and would speak often at high school athletic events. For years he was involved with the Atlanta Tip-Off Club, sponsor of the annual Naismith Award given to the top college player each year. Most important to him, however, was his volunteer work at his church and delivering meals to the home-bound. Later in life he was the fulltime caregiver for my mother, who was at home in a coma for two years before she died (one day before her 90^th birthday). He was as faithful and present to her every single day, as he had been to every other endeavor in his life. I never heard him complain. In fact, I never heard him utter a curse word his entire life. The strongest phrase he ever used, when he was really upset, was "cheese and crackers!" He lived his life "on purpose" until the very end.

What drew you to the aging field?

My degree and early professional background is in the field of "community education." In the early 80’s, I reassessed my life and moved to Oklahoma to study part-time in a seminary for personal growth and soul searching. I also needed to work, so I answered an ad for the position of Director of an Area Agency on Aging in Muskogee, OK. I worked in that position for five years while I finished seminary, and absolutely loved it and learning about aging. I became active on the state and national level in aging policy, and then relocated to Oregon to a much larger AAA. I moved to Minnesota in 1993 to be with my wife and start a private practice as a life coach and spiritual counselor. I love that work, but I missed the field of aging. I became active in the Vital Aging Network shortly after it started, attended their events and monthly forums, and networked with the people I met. That’s when I was hired at the ElderCare Rights Alliance in 2003, and later as the Coordinator for the Vital Aging Network. It’s a perfect fit for me. I am constantly inspired by older people who follow their passions and dreams.

Do you see connections between your work in aging and what you took from basketball?

In sports I learned that practice made me a better player, but teamwork is what wins the game. I also was continually reminded that there would always be better athletes than me, no matter how hard I tried. These lessons have stayed with me as a constant reminder not to judge myself against others accomplishments, do the best I can at my chosen task, and always build relationships along the way.

Who are you picking in Monday’s championship game?

I’m going with North Carolina all the way. I’ve lived in Minnesota for 16 years, but my roots are in the south.