Jim Forbes, one of the premier high school basketball players and high school coaches in the rich history of El Paso and the State of Texas passed away today at the age of 69.
A quiet, humble man, Forbes always deferred accolades of his accomplishments to either his teammates or his players.
Immediate past President of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame Ed Stansbury said of Forbes, “It’s been incredibly difficult the last month for the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame community. We are saddened by the passing of Coach Forbes and send our condolences to his family and the Andress, Riverside and Bel Air communities. Coach Forbes will forever be an icon here in El Paso and he will be deeply missed.”
Forbes played at Bel Air High School graduating in 1970 as a High School All-American and then moving on to play for the University of Texas at El Paso for three years from 1971-1974.
He also played on the 1972 United States Men’s Olympic Team and then went into the high school coaching world where he accomplished a feat no other local El Paso basketball Coach has ever done. Mr. Forbes took two different high school basketball teams, both Riverside and Andress to the State Final Four.
The current President of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame Dr. Scott Stein said, “I call him Coach as he was my coach at Don Haskins Basketball Camp. Coach Forbes was such an inspirational player, coach, and man. A great loss whose memory will live on forever in El Paso.”
Jim Forbes was inducted into the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989 and in recent years had the high school gymnasium at Riverside High School renamed in his honor and his high school jersey number at Bel Air High School retired.