Former UAB coach Gene Bartow battles cancer

Gene Bartow came to Birmingham in 1977 to start a basketball program at UAB.

It worked out pretty well—the team brings a lot of excitement, exposure and winning for basketball fans.

Coach Bartow never really retired—he tried, but he can’t stay away from the game and no one wants him to.
He’s in a tough battle now—I got a chance to spend some time with Coach today.

Even during the toughest fight of his life, his battle with stomach cancer, Coach Gene Bartow is spending most of the week at Birmingham-Southern College where the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies are holding their 2009 training camp.

Coach Bartow and I thought talking outside in the beautiful Alabama fall weather made a lot of sense.  We talked about many things, including his current fight.

“But, chemo’s not all that much fun, but we are battling it,“ Coach Bartow said.
 
He’s got a break from chemotherapy right now, and that’s a good thing.

“Our doctors are great and I think so many people are praying for me and they’ve had an impact,” Bartow said. “So the good Lord’s been watching out for me, and my wife she’s been right on the scene, Ruth’s been on it every day every since I was diagnosed about 6 months ago.“

Gene Bartow doesn’t have to face cancer alone. His support, his real love and support, continues to come from where it’s always come from: his wife Ruth and family.

“She’s been great, and Murray’s been in town a lot, my son that coaches at East Tennessee State,” Bartow said. “Our daughter Beth has been in quite a bit, so they’re trying to help too, and our grandkids….so it’s been an interesting 6 months.“

Just about everyone who sees Coach Bartow and knows about his battle with cancer have put him on their prayer list. If you pray, you might ought to add him to yours

“Just hundreds and hundreds of people who call and say they’re praying for me, and I know they are and I know it’s making a difference,“ Bartow said.

Coach Bartow serves as the president of Hoops LP for the Memphis Grizzlies. He uses his wealth of knowledge about the game and his ability to evaluate young talent to help in the Grizzlies front office. Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins loves to have Coach Bartow around.

“Coach Bartow, ever since I’ve been in Memphis has taken me under his wing, and I really respect him as a coach and as a person,” Hollins said, “and I really think he’s one of the great people that the NBA has had and college has had and if I can half the man that he is, I’ll be OK.“

Many of us remember Coach Gene Bartow doing what he loved most: coaching his team at UAB for 19 seasons.

Today, other coaches wanted to spend time with Coach Bartow. Former Birmingham-Southern Coach Dwayne Reboul and Samford head Coach Jimmy Tellete took the opportunity to spend time with Bartow and let him know that they thinking of him, and he appreciates each and every day.

“When you wake up in the morning and you know you’ve got another day, you just go,“ Bartow said.

Coach Bartow has a nice break from chemo right now and says he’s feeling really good right now. And now he’s not dreading the future; he’s counting his blessings.

“Well, I was a major college coach for 34 years and had a lot of great players and a lot of great assistant coaches and we got our share of wins… so I’ve been one of the lucky ones in this business,“ Bartow said. “I’m just kind of moving along, and trying to do the right thing and hope this can be beaten.“