Honea, who was beyond restless after five years on the sidelines, was overwhelmed when the call came from his former student.

“I’ve actually got some butterflies with excitement about getting into college basketball,” he said. “It’s like Roc sent me a lifeline and said let’s live again. It reminded me of Tom Penders when he came out of retirement to take the Houston job saying, ‘I feel alive again.’

“If you are a competitor and you still feel like you have something left to give, and you are not giving it, there’s just a void. I can promise I will work to the best of my ability to do whatever Roc needs and wants me to do. I think he’s going to be fun to work with.”

Ronnie Thompson, still disappointed that he was unable to add Honea to his staff at Memorial, gives Roccaforte two thumbs up for the hire.

“Mark is one of the most qualified, certified, hardest working people I have ever met, and I wish him the best,” Thompson said. “He loves coaching and he loves kids. He loved education and came by it naturally because his mom and dad were both teachers. This is a great day for Lamar.”

Honea’s coaching record — his teams averaged 23 wins a season and topped 30 four times — tells only a small part of what he meant to kids in Port Arthur, the PAISD and old Yellow Jackets. Simply picking the highlights from his resume is no easy task.

He’s been published over 30 times in journals, magazines and newsletters on a variety of education topics. He played a major role in obtaining a reduction in overly penal House Bill 72 from six weeks to three weeks suspension. He was the subject of separate Texas House (1989) and Texas Senate (1986) resolutions for contributions to education.

From 1984 to 2002, TJ football coaches Mike Owens and Richard Marler swore by him as their academic advisor helping keep players eligible. He was the PAISD teacher of the Year in 1989 and won the University of Texas Outstanding Teacher Award in 1990. He breathed life into the Yellow Jacket Alumni Association as its president from 1992-2001.

Two years after his retirement in 2003, he was inducted in the Southeast Texas Coaches Association Hall of Honor.

There is so much more, but you get the picture. We are talking about a truly exceptional individual who can’t help but be a monumental asset to Steve Roccaforte, Lamar basketball and the university.

Bottom line, Roc has hit a home run that’s out there with Albert Pujols’ tape-measure job.

Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net. His Sportsrap radio show will return to KLVI on Monday, July 14 at 7:05 p.m.