"Legendary" is a fitting adjective for Rich Goulet.

This Saturday, the veteran Pitt Meadows Secondary senior boys basketball coach will be honoured for more than four decades of coaching.

He's being inducted into the Basketball BC Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Langley Events Centre.

In December, Goulet earned a milestone with his 1,000th senior boys varsity victory at the school, a milestone achieved by averaging almost 31 wins a season for more than three decades with the Fraser Valley powerhouse.

Goulet ended up leading the Marauders to a Fraser Valley title and a 33-2 record going into the B.C. Triple A boys basketball championships in mid-March.

The Marauders' hopes for a B.C. title were dashed by the eventual tournament champion Terry Fox Ravens in the quarter-final. Pitt Meadows finished strong with a 3-1 record to finish fifth overall in the province.

So, take away the tough 66-30 loss to the Ravens, and it was an overall fine year for Goulet and the Marauders Air Force.

But a stroke he suffered at home on July 1, 2011 put Goulet's chances of returning to coach the Marauders for a 33rd consecutive year in jeopardy.

Undaunted, Goulet was back patrolling the sidelines once again.

In November, Goulet told The TIMES that coaching is cathartic [Veteran coach on road to recovery, Nov. 3, TIMES]: "Most days, if I can go in and spend an hour or two coaching, that's a relief from my daily schedule and all the other things that are going on."

He spent 11 years as a coach and 10 as a teacher at St. Thomas More before moving over to Pitt Meadows Secondary, to coach basketball and teach.

Through the years, Goulet has won five B.C. titles. He captured the provincial championship twice with St. Thomas More, and guided the Marauders to a trio of B.C. titles, in 1983 (at the Double A level) and 1989 and 2000 at Triple A. He is the only coach in B.C. high school history to win provincial titles at both the Double A and Triple A levels.

Along with his success in high school hoops, Goulet has accepted numerous Basketball BC provincial team coaching assignments, including U16 and U17 boys and Summer Games zone teams.

Goulet has won multiple medals at the nationals and coached two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash and his brother Marty on provincial teams that went to national tournaments.

He served as elite chair with Basketball BC board member for six years.

Goulet founded and administered Steve Nash Youth Basketball in Pitt Meadows. The league was initially called Little Dribblers, became Junior Grizzlies, and then became the Steve Nash league.

The event gets underway at 6 p.m. at the LEC's banquet room. For tickets, visit the Basketball BC website at www.basketball.bc.ca.

- With files from the Province

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