photo by: Richard Gwin

FSHS boys basketball coach Chuck Law instructs his team during a game against LHS on Friday, Feb. 27.

Chuck Law likely knew last week when he emerged from the visitors’ locker room at Shawnee Mission North High that he had just coached his final boys basketball game for Free State, but it didn’t show on his face or in his words.

The news of his resignation would come five days later. In the moments following the Firebirds’ season-ending sub-state loss, Law was his usual self — remembering every crucial play of the 32-minute game in perfect detail, appreciative for what his guys did right and cognizant of the exact shortcomings that cost FSHS a berth in a sub-state title game.

photo by: Richard Gwin

FSHS boys basketball coach Chuck Law instructs his team during a game against LHS on Friday, Feb. 27.

Law didn’t wear the look of a coach burned out or fed up with the grind.

No, things didn’t go Free State’s way that night, at “the most inopportune time of the season,” the ninth-year head coach pointed out. And, yes, that left Law disappointed. But not for himself. For his players.

How much he enjoyed coaching this particular group of Firebirds came across more than anything else following the finale. He rightfully felt proud of what they had done over the previous three months.

photo by: John Young

Free State players, from left, Blake Winslow, Cody Scott, Khadre Lane, Weston Hack and Keith Loneker celebrate following their victory in their sub-state regional championship game against Olathe East Friday evening in Olathe. The Firebirds advanced to the state championship tournament with a 45-44 victory.

Twice in his tenure at FSHS, Law’s teams advanced to the Class 6A state tournament: in 2007 and 2013. Funny as it sounds, he might feel just as grateful — if not more — for what his last bunch of ‘Birds achieved on the court.

Free State finished 11-10 in the final chapter of the Chuck Law era. That had to make it easier for him to close that book.

“Sometimes 11 and 10 is a heck of an accomplishment,” he said following the postseason road loss. “And I think it was with these guys, and they know it. They gave us everything that they had, night in, night out, practice, games, didn’t matter.”

He didn’t want the final snapshot of an uncharacteristically bad night to overshadow how hard the players worked all year, and how much the guys on the roster embodied what he looks for in an ideal player: one who can dribble, pass, catch and shoot. Law said these Firebirds bought into the system as much as any team he had been a part of at FSHS, where he first worked as an assistant.

Weston Hack gets a finger tip reach on the ball as Free State boys played Shawnee Mission North Wednesday in the sub-state tournament in Overland Park.

For an unheralded group of underdogs, that’s exactly what it took to exceed expectations.

Said senior Weston Hack: “Going into the year, we lost those seven seniors from last year and everyone was pretty high on them and pretty low on the rest of us, I’d say.”

Unaware at the time the 2014-15 season would be his coach’s last, Hack, too, deemed it a success.

“I’m not one for moral victories, but I’m sure in a year or two we’ll be able to look back on this and be pretty proud of what we accomplished,” Hack said.

So will Law.

People should remember this more-grit-than-flash team, as well, because it was a reflection of its coach. What’s more, they should remember how much his teams competed against more talented opponents, and how much respect he had for his cross-town rivals at Lawrence.

Every season Mike Lewis coached at LHS, Law game-planned like mad to beat him. And when the rival school fired his embattled competitor last year, Law was there to support Lewis at the school board meeting that led to his re-instatement.

When you look back at Chuck Law’s time running Free State boys basketball, remember the impressive wins, the stellar game plans, the in-game tweaks and adjustments and state tournament trips. But remember that act of class, too.

And don’t be surprised if you see him in Wichita in the next few days, supporting the Chesty Lions in their chase for a state championship.