‘It’s a great day to be a Jacket!’

He was the king of nicknames, but also went by a few himself.

His name was David Glover, but would answer to just “Glover.”

Or “Mr. Glover.” Or “Coach.” Or “Glove.” Or, his favorite, “Pops.” Glover’s unfair and so cruel battle against cancer came to an end early Saturday morning.

The sickening disease took away such things from Glover as the game of golf, his mobility and eventually his life.

But nobody will ever be able to say it took his spirit, his desire to support anything associated with Kingfisher Public Schools or the fact he impacted a lot of lives from his time in the likes of Woodward, Okeene, Fairview, Newkirk, Bethel, Okarche and at the OSSAA.

The coach

“He was hired in August 1983 at Okeene High School to lead the Lady Whippet basketball program and teach English. I was a freshman,” recalls Sabrina (Nusz) Nault, now a teacher at Kingfisher High School. “We always had a good time during practice, but it was mostly business.”

That business meant being in shape.

“He was a true believer in his teams being in basketball shape and we did the ever-dreaded ‘30-second drills,’ ‘bear crawls’ as well as ‘sitting on the wall’ and then still ran after practice,” Nault said. “We won many games against bigger schools who had way better talent because we could just outlast them.”

His philosophies worked as Glover was eventually inducted into the hall of fame for his very profession.

The teacher

At Fairview, Glover taught and coached John Hardaway, now the boys basketball coach at Cashion.

He taught Hardaway’s sophomore English class.

“Coach was an excellent classroom teacher, and I absolutely loved going to his class,” Hardaway said. “For me personally, he was this awesome, funny, confident and highly-successful coach who had an incredible ability for teaching and reaching students in the classroom.”

Which led into….

The nicknames

“I was beyond blessed to be ‘one of his own,’” said Haley (Myers) Mitchel, who was an assistant coach for her mother, Cherie Myers, at Okarche when Glover was a superintendent there.

Glover recently hired Mitchel to coach and teach at Kingfisher.

“If you were one of Mr. Glover’s, then you were a friend, family member and given a nickname.”

For her, it was “Sis” or “Hay.”

For her husband, Jared Mitchel, it was “#2.”

“Mr. Glover said Jared was the second-best basketball player to every come through Woodward,” Haley said. “Behind Mr. Glover.”

“EVERY person had a nickname,” added Nault. “Players, non-players, the refs (I won’t mention any names), opposing coaches, principal, other teachers… he had a nickname for you.”

Nault already had a nickname before Glover arrived in Okeene.

It was “Beany.” That’s who she was to him.

“Although I already had one before his arrival and didn’t get a new one, he never, even on the last day I spoke with him, called me Sabrina,” she said.

“It was always ‘Beany.’ ALWAYS!”

For Stephanie (Yost) Bieren, a KHS librarian who is a Lomega graduate?

“Raiderette”

Shelly (Pope) Overstreet: “Raider”

Shelly Watkins: “Shell Bell” Taylor (Cooper) Young: “Coop”

Jayci Howerton: “Jayci and the Sunshine Band” Teresa Fletcher: “T”

Leo Voth: “Leaping Leo” Karen (Ensminger) Deatherage: “E” - “It was too long of a name for him to yell at me during a basketball game or practice.”

Adam Diesselhorst: “Diesselhrst” - “He would always say, ‘You can have the D in your name because you play defense, but your offense is questionable, so I’m taking the O out of your name.”

The other Diesselhorst brothers: “iesselhorst” - “He said it’s because they didn’t play any defense.”

T.J. Harris - “Superstar” or “Teej” Michael Sacket - “Paper or plastic” There are, literally, countless others.

Back to Hardway… One of Hardaway’s favorite activities as a sophomore English student was reading books together as a class, usually in the format of a play with Glover assigning the characters.

Glover’s favorite was “Of Mice and Men” and he cast himself as George and Hardaway as Lennie.

In the book, Lennie asks George several times, “When are we going to get that little place to live on the fat of the land?”

“If you have ever read the book or watched the movie, you know exactly what I’m talking about,” Hardaway said.

So during those class readings, Hardaway was branded with the nickname “Phat.”

“Thankfully he changed the spelling to be cool and hip from the ‘F’ to ‘Ph,’” Hardaway said. “And it stuck.

“Coach called me Phat from that point forward for the rest of his life. It didn’t matter about the situation or who was around, if Coach was talking to me, it was only Phat and it always made me laugh.”

The mentor

Diesselhorst is the president and owner of The AMG Team, a marketing company, while Hardaway is the head boys basketball coach at Cashion.

Though they took different career paths, both were influenced by Glover.

“He was a coach, mentor, father figure, friend,” Diesselhorst said. “Still to this day, I thank him for what he instilled in me as it pertains to how important relationships are in life. I tried to make it a habit of going to lunch with him, stopping by and seeing him, or just shooting him a text/giving him a call on the regular.

“I learned the importance of relationships in life from him and loved every moment I shared with him.”

Hardaway realizes now that Glover saw in him then all the tools of being a successful coach later in life.

“Coach Glover’s example and relationship with me in high school is what made me want to be a coach and teacher,” Hardaway said. “His influence on my life and career path is substantial. During my coaching career, he was one my closest and important mentors.”

Nault played for Glover at Okeene and, eventually, worked for him at Kingfi sher.

“There’s so much to say about Coach Glover,” she said. “He’s someone I will never forget and thank for so many life lessons.”

The administrator

Aaron West remembers Glover as the person who allowed him to coach alongside his own father, Ray West, before his own passing from cancer.

“It was 2012 and I was coaching at Lomega. I got a call from Mr. Glover wanting to talk to me about coming back home to coach at Okarche,” said West. “At the time, I was really happy at Lomega, but that phone call and the meeting that ensued gave me an opportunity to fulfill something that I would be forever grateful for: Not only being able to come coach at my alma mater, but to be able to coach alongside my father.”

It wasn’t financially easy, but as West said, Glover “figured out a way to make it work and bring me back home.

“He gave me the opportunity at the time that I’m especially grateful for now,” West said. “See, I got to spend seven close years with my father and before he succumbed to cancer.” Though Glover was no longer at Okarche when Ray West passed in 2019, he still made sure Aaron was “one of his own.” “Mr. Glover was actually one of the first phone calls I received from someone soon after my dad passed checking to see how the family was doing and if we needed anything,” West said. Greg Jackson, who once coached girls and boys basketball at Dover, was a principal under Glover during their years together at Bethel. “David Glover was so easy to work for because we knew each other so well. I knew how he wanted things done and he knew I would get it done because I felt the same way,” said Jackson, now the principal at Blanchard High School. “We both were passionate about activities and wanted all programs to be the best. The last thing I wanted was for Glove to feel I let him down on anything. We could be very honest with each other which, for some reason, some find that difficult to do. There will never be another Glove! He was the best and I will miss my friend.”

The OSSAA guy

Although he was in charge of multiple sports during his nine years as an assistant director at the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association, the one with the biggest burden and responsibility was basketball.

He was in charge of Classes 4A down to B, most notably handling the playoff assignments for all those schools.

It’s sometimes an impossible task as coaches are inevitably going to feel their path to state is the hardest.

They would let Glover know about it.

And he would listen. “David was one of the few OSSAA employees that truly cared about coaches and valued what they thought,” said longtime coach Tim Bart. “Always felt like he had the coaches’ best interest at heart.”

Todd Lisenbee is best known for his stints at multiple Oklahoma City sports talk radio stations, calls state tournament games each year for the NFHS Network and also used to coach basketball with his father at Wellston.

“(Glover is) an absolute prince of a man,” Lisenbee said. “There were times when we disagreed on things and he always listened and heard me out. It always ended with us laughing and slapping each other on the back.

“There was never any doubt how much he cared about the people he served. If it was in Coach Glover’s hands, it was in good hands.”

David Jackson is the executive director at the OSSAA. Together, Glover, Jackson and the rest of the OSSAA staff faced numerous challenges through the years.

“David was a remarkable individual with an uncanny ability to bring people together, fostering unity and collaboration as a consensus builder,” Jackson said. “He always remained positive, even during the most challenging times in his life, and that attitude was contagious around our office and everywhere he went.

“He always saw the good qualities in people and found ways to uplift and encourage everyone in his path. With a great love for young people, David was a natural for the work he did at the OSSAA and he became a mentor and role model to many, offering guidance and support with genuine care. His unwavering optimism and belief in others made him a cherished presence in our office, at championship events and everywhere he went. We will cherish the time we had with him here.”

The OSSAA guy… at The Big House

The showcase event for “the basketball guy” at the OSSAA is no doubt the state tournament.

The OSSAA hosts the small school (A and B) on one weekend (now closer to a week, thanks in large part to Glover) and then the “large school” (2A-4A) the following week.

Glover’s duties included coordinating everything from working with coaches, teams, administrators, officials, State Fair Arena staff, media and so much more.

“He was like the king at his castle during state basketball tournaments at the Big House,” said Van Shea Iven, director of media operations at the OSSAA.

“If there was ever an issue during the two weeks (and there were several… roof leaking, scoreboard not working, etc), Coach Glover never flinched and would smile and talk about how great this time of the year is.”

And Glover was a magnet for everyone who showed up.

“Every coach, official and administrator in attendance seemed to make their way to the floor wanting to say hello to him,” Iven said.

The cheerleader

Games. Plays. Concerts. Stock shows. Awards ceremonies.

Doesn’t matter.

David - and Cyndy - was always there. Always.

He wasn’t there just for the sake of making an appearance.

“He always had a smile, an encouraging word, most of the time a hug and supported all students and staff and their activities, not just athletics,” Nault said.

“When I think of Mr. Glover I think of a person that loved being a part of public education and making a difference in the lives of young people,” West said. “From being a coach, to an administrator, to an OSSAA director, he just loved being involved with today’s youth.

“He dedicated his life to family and education.”

Kingfisher Board of Education President Charles Walker noted the pride Glover took in being the superintendent here.

“Mr. Glover truly loved Kingfisher schools and the community. He was so proud to be our superintendent and always bragged about how great Kingfisher is,” Walker said. “He would always say, no matter the circumstance, ‘It’s a great day to be a Jacket!’

“I think he got the most joy from the kids and it was apparent each and every day in how he interacted with them. Personally, he had a great impact on my daughters that will be with them always.”

School board member Carly Franks also saw the joy the school district brought to Glover.

“I will most of all miss the way his face lit up when he talked about the staff, kids and the Kingfisher Public Schools system.”

The family man

Van Shea Iven knows Glover appreciated every single person who came up to him at The Big House.

As he said, Glover was the “king at his castle” during those two weeks.

“No doubt when Coach Glover was his happiest, though, was when he had Cyndy, Kylee and Kinzie by his side and his grandkids on his lap,” Iven said.

“Those are the memories that I will remember the most.”

Cyndy, his wife of 44 years, was always by his side. You knew his daughters, if not there already, soon would be.

“He was so proud that ‘Cyn’ was his wife and he was the father to Kylee and Kinzie,” Nault said.

And then there were the ones who called him “Pops.”

Kinzie wrote on Facebook: “He was a great dad to me, but he truly hit it out of the park as a pops to his grandkids.”

Nault saw it, too, and Glover even prepared her for her own.

“They were his world!” she said. “I recall him telling me about how life would change upon the arrival of grands.

“He wasn’t wrong about that either.”

The sickness

Glover loved golf, but cancer treatments damaged the nerves in his spine and he eventually lost the ability to play.

He and Cyndy often drove by the course after the fact and he’d sit in his Jeep by the #7 tee box and talk to “the guys” taking part in the different men’s leagues.

His ability to walk without assistance soon left him as well.

There were falls. Spills. Broken bones.

But never a broken will. “When Mr. Glover got sick, he went about living life to the fullest. He never let his illness slow him down and limit him to what he loved to do,” West said.

It was the same at work. “Coach Glover had every excuse to have bad days with some of the health issues he faced over the last 13 years, but he never did,” Iven said.

“He was always positive and upbeat.”

The memory

The Kingfisher APB will be filled to the rafters for Glover’s funeral service Wednesday afternoon.

Fittingly, the two seats that he and Cyndy always filled at basketball home games (front and center, of course) will be adorned with KHS basketball jerseys and will remain empty in his honor.

People will share their memories and stories of the man who made a lasting impact in his 65 years on this earth.

As Nault summed it up: “I could go on and on with the impact he had on me and the stories of games and advice.”

But the prevailing thought is that Glover will be missed.

He’ll be missed whether its as a former teacher, a coach, an administrator, an OSSAA guy, a husband, a dad, a pops, a mentor, a friend.

“I will miss seeing him wheeling about the halls of KHS on his scooter, giving the kids and teachers highfi ves,” said Nault.

“And I’ll miss him yelling from the front hall to my room: “‘Hey, Beany, hope you’ve had a great day. It’s always a great day to be a Jacket!’”