LJWorld.com

A speck of orange in a crowd of Jayhawk blue, Seabury Academy junior Bill Gibbs enjoyed Saturday’s contest between Kansas and Tennessee at Allen Fieldhouse with a conflicted heart.

“I live in Lawrence,” Gibbs said. “I bleed crimson and blue. But I am definitely a lifelong Tennessee fan.”

With good reason.

Gibbs’ grandfather Bill, for whom the Seahawks’ small forward is named, was the head coach at Tennessee during the 1962-63 season. Ray Mears gave Gibbs the reins during his leave of absence early in the season.

Being the interim coach at Tennessee, however, is not what defined Gibbs’ legacy. Volunteer faithful remember Gibbs most for doing what no other coach before him had achieved: beating rival Kentucky twice in the same year.

“Beating Adolph Rupp twice in one season, that’s something us Gibbs’ take great pride in,” the younger Gibbs said.

Mears returned to Tennessee’s bench the following year and Gibbs took over as head coach of the freshman team.

“He chose that over being the assistant coach because he wanted to leave his mark and have his own team,” Seabury’s Gibbs said.

In his first year as the freshman coach, the late Bill Gibbs died in a plane crash along with eight other passengers. To pay its respect, the university named the athletic residence hall after the coach.

His grandfather’s accomplishments resonated with the younger Gibbs as he describes UT as his first love when it comes to college basketball. In fact, he sported his Volunteer gear proudly during Kansas’ 92-85 victory over the then No. 14-ranked Vols.

“I was happy for KU to get the big win but the better part of me was for UT,” Gibbs divulged with a smile.

The best part about Tennessee’s trip to Lawrence for Gibbs came even before tipoff. His father arranged through Tennessee’s athletic department for his son to meet head coach Bruce Pearl during the team’s shoot-around.

“It was a dream come true,” Gibbs said. “I instantly fell in love with him when (UT) hired him. He was a very nice guy.”

And generous, apparently. Pearl equipped Gibbs with a Tennessee T-shirt and shooting shirt prior to leaving the fieldhouse.

After the meet and greet with his hero, it’s back to business for the Seabury hoopster. The Seahawks, who went 1-18 in the regular season last year, have opened the 2008-2009 campaign 2-0, including a convincing 64-38 victory over Flint Hills Christian.

“We’ve done a lot of work during the summer,” first-year coach Mike Harding said. “We went to several tournaments and had a lot of good scrimmages.”

Harding attributes the early success to his players’ willingness to work.

“I’ve got some gym rats on the team,” he said. “A lot of kids come in and ask to shoot around on weekends.”

The Seahawks will look to continue their unbeaten streak against Immaculata at 7 p.m. today at home.