CLAYPOOL - In John Bryce Stephens' eyes, people rust out before they wear out.

At 98 years old, Stephens - who prefers to be called J.B. - said he won't let that happen to him.

A father of three daughters, Stephens, who will celebrate his 99th birthday Dec. 24 and who owns a cottage at Beaver Dam Lake, retired in 1972.

He's been on the go ever since.

A retired high school boys basketball coach, teacher and superintendent, Stephens keeps busy with Kiwanis, fishing, delivering for Meals on Wheels - he says he enjoys delivering for the elderly - and attending football and basketball games at Greenfield-Central High School.

On the day of this interview, which lasted nearly two hours, Stephens drove 100-some miles from his home in Greenfield to his Beaver Dam Lake cottage. While he sat on a couch telling stories of his days as a coach, which included leading the 1932 Cicero High School boys basketball team to the elite eight, Warsaw resident Bill Grow, a friend of Stephens', kept himself busy fishing.

Each time Grow caught a fish, Stephens, who said he was getting up and going fishing at 6:30 the next morning, would take a time out from the story he was telling and talk about fishing.

This is how Stephens, whose wife Lucille passed away six years ago, lives his life. He doesn't seem to stay in one place too long.

Pretty impressive for someone nearly 100 years old.

While he enjoyed talking about fishing, it was evident right away that two things seemed to pop up in every story - Stephens' career working in various school systems and his passion for high school basketball.

And this is for good reason.

Simply put, Stephens' life is a case of been there, done that.

He worked in various school systems for 41 years, everything from teaching to superintendent.

The awards he's received show that he was pretty good at it.

"I had quite a career," said Stephens, who talked of his accomplishments in a very humble and gentleman-like manner. "I was a successful coach. I've been able to do a lot of things."

There are four "awards" that Stephens said he was "very proud of."

He received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America, an honor given for distinguished service to young people.

He was recognized for outstanding work as a school superintendent.

In 1992, he was presented with a Sagamore of the Wabash.

And yes, he even has a school named after him - J.B. Stephens Elementary School in Greenfield.

Stephens started teaching and coaching at his alma mater, LaFountain High School in Wabash County, from which he graduated in 1925.

He has also made stops at high schools in Cicero, Fishers, Sweetser and North Manchester.

Stephens worked for the school district and was the boys basketball coach at Manchester High School for one year in the mid-1940s.

On the day of this interview, Stephens' daughter, Linda McMinn, has old newspaper clippings and photos of her father's basketball teams neatly placed on a tabletop.

While the photos are black and white, Stephens tells his stories in a colorful way, constantly making eye contact and keeping the listener interested.

He talks about being a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, noting he remembers seeing Stan Musial play in person. He mentions that he saw Babe Ruth play in an exhibition game.

It's high school basketball, however, that he knows very well.

Stephens was in attendance at the boys basketball state championships this past spring at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

He has been in attendance every year since 1926.

And there was the magical year of 1932 when his Red Devils of tiny Cicero High School beat Marion in the regional and advanced to the state finals, which was 16 teams back in those days.

"We won three-fourths of the games I coached," said Stephens. "We did get beat some of the time. When I was coaching Cicero and we beat Marion, that was like David and Goliath. We beat Vincennes (17-15) to get to the final eight and then New Castle beat us (25-13). New Castle won state that year."

Stephens is the only living member - coach or player - from the 1932 Cicero High School team.

Stephens, when asked why he liked high school basketball so much said "it's in my blood." He told stories of how basketball has changed over the years.

"Basketball has changed a lot, the game and the fans," said Stephens. "A ball team is what used to draw people together. Everyone turned out to the ballgames. We didn't have all the TV stuff back then. I enjoyed coaching. If we got beat by 10 or 15 points Friday night I'd give them hell Monday, but I had a good relationship with the team. We talked a lot about responsibility. I was their coach, but I believe a coach is more than that. We talked about responsibility and the kids knew they were representing themselves, their school and their parents."

Stephens mentioned seeing current Indianapolis phenom Greg Oden and Indiana poster child Damon Bailey play, but it's two other players that he said he really liked watching.

"Oscar Robertson was the best player I ever saw," said Stephens. "He could do everything. Larry Bird, he do could just about everything with a basketball, too. Those two men were outstanding basketball players"

Stephens also recalled the days when teams "jumped center after every basket," and that "one person shot all the foul shots."

In nearly 100 years of life, Stephens has seen and done a lot of things. He doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. [[In-content Ad]]