Tempe - The Sun Devil Athletics community mourns the loss of ASU Men's Basketball legend Royce Youree, who passed away at the age of 88 last month.
Youree was part of the Sun Devil Men's Basketball team from 1955-58 and stayed connected with the program up until his passing. While at ASU, he was a three-year starter and accumulated 1,036 points, graduating as the school's career scoring leader. Youree has the distinction of being the first player in school history to surpass 1,000 points. He accomplished many things during his illustrious career in Tempe, including making 362 career free throws, a record that stood for 45 years until it was broken by Ike Diogu during the 2003-04 season. That is still the longest-standing record in ASU men's basketball history. Youree led the Sun Devils in free throw percentage all three seasons.
In 76 career games, he averaged 13.6 points, peaking at 18.4 points per game during the 1956-57 season. As a senior, he helped ASU win its first Border Conference championship and receive its first bid to the NCAA Tournament. Youree made two free throws with three seconds left in the final game, securing the conference title. He would go on to earn his B.A. in education from ASU in 1960 and his M.A., also in education, in 1963.
After graduating, he went on to play three years of minor league baseball with the San Franisco Giants. Youree then started his legendary basketball coaching career in 1962 as an assistant at Phoenix's Maryvale High School. He became the head coach of Phoenix East High School in 1964, where he compiled a 5A record of 301-56 and won five state championships over 13 years. Youree was tabbed to coach the United States' 20-and-under team at the 1979 Junior Men's World Championships in Brazil. That team went a perfect 8-0 and won the World Championship, defeating Brazil 75-55.
In 1982, he became the co-head coach at Mesa Community College, where he went 126-37 in his five years, including taking the Thunderbirds to a No. 3 national ranking in 1987. From 1988-1995, he coached in the Basketball Congress International (BCI), guiding teams of Arizona's top high school basketball players in competition against top challengers from across the country. He moved to the college game, serving as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego for two years. Youree would also get a taste of the NBA, working with the Atlanta Hawks as a regional scout for seven years.
Throughout his remarkable career, he received many prestigious inductions and achievements:
- Arizona Coaches Hall of Fame, 1984
- ASU Sports Hall of Fame, 1995
- West Hill Coalinga Community College Hall of Fame, 1998
- Pac-12 Hall of Honor, 2009
- National High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame, 2012
- Phoenix Union High School District Hall of Fame, 2015
- Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, 2016
- California Community College Athletic Association, 2019
- The Arizona Republic "Coach of the Century"
- The Arizona Republic ranked five of his teams among the Top-15 Boys' "Teams of the Century."
Youree is survived by his daughter, Kimberly Andrade (Anthony), as well as several grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Youree's celebration of life service will be held on November 9th from 1-3 PM at Without Walls Church in Mesa. If you wish to send flowers/plants to the church, the delivery window is 11/9 from 11 AM-12:45 PM. His official obituary can be found here.