Madera coaching legend dies at 90

For The Madera Tribune

Gaylon Dacus.

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Legendary Madera High School basketball coach, Gaylon Dacus, died March 6 in Vancouver, Washington, from complications of a stroke. He was 90.

Dacus led the 1963 Madera High basketball team to the league and Valley championships, defying all odds and becoming a household name in Madera. He and his team were the first inductees into the Madera Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.

That awesome basketball season really began for Dacus when he was invited to speak to the Madera Lions Club at Lucca’s Restaurant on Wednesday, January 3, 1963. Dacus left no doubts with his prognostication. Madera’s Coyotes, in his opinion, had the best chance of winning the North Yosemite League championship since they last accomplished that feat in 1939.