James "Budd" Grebb never had kids of his own, but all over the Mon Valley you could find "Budd's boys."

Grebb, a longtime baseball and basketball coach at California Area High School where he also served as athletic director, worked to instill his principles with his players on the field and students in the classroom where he was a history teacher.

Grebb died last week at the age of 71.

"He was like a father to a lot of us," said Ryan Encapera a 1997 California graduate who played for Grebb.

"Some of us didn't really have fathers and he really took us under his wing. He did a lot for us in that respect and everyone down in California called us 'Budd's boys.' He had his group of guys."

Encapera is one of a few of Grebb's former students or players who have gone onto teaching or coaching. He is the boys' basketball coach and softball coach at East Allegheny High School. This season he brought his former coach on to be his assistant and Grebb mentored him as a volunteer assistant.

"I would have to say it was the best coaching move I ever made," Encapera said. "I am really proud to say he helped me a lot. He loved to coach and I wanted to get him back into coaching because that's who he was. I figured I would ask, I didn't think he would take me up on it."

Encapera said Grebb helped a lot with the transition of students from the former Duquesne High School to East Allegheny.

Many of Grebb's coaching techniques have been carried on by his former players or assistants who have moved on to become head coaches. Don Martin, a former student and player of Grebb's, got his first job from his former teacher as an assistant coach at California.

"He touched a lot of people and he certainly touched me," said Martin who is now the principal at Frazier High School in Perryopolis.

"The best thing about Budd is that with all the people who played and worked for him, the legacy of Budd Grebb will go on. When I'm teaching or coaching, I'll say something and turn around and say 'That sounded like something Budd would say.'"

When Martin became head coach at California, he also brought Grebb to be part of his staff. Despite once being his coach, Martin said Grebb never stepped on his toes and would always sit down with him after practices and mentor him.

Even his players will admit that Grebb was tough to play for. He demanded a lot out of his players and often showed them "tough love."

"Most people who didn't play for him, you would hear them at reunions and places outside of school and they'd always be saying they wish they would have endured it and played for him," Martin said.

"Budd always said 'Don't judge me now, judge me five years from now.' Playing for him was a real challenge. He was an excellent teacher and an excellent motivator. You really felt that you accomplished something playing for him."

Another one of Grebb's former student's, Chris Maxon, went on to become a basketball coach in Florida. Maxon graduated from California in 1986 and he is currently an assistant coach at Indian River Community College. Grebb would travel to Florida every winter to watch Maxon's team play.

"He is a legend and one of kind," Maxon said. "As far as his motives, I definitely thought he was ahead of his time in terms of what the Mon Valley had seen.

"He was able to utilize basketball as a learning tool. He used it to teach us about perseverance, responsibility and being prompt and prepared. Down here in Florida, I talk to the kids all the time about Bud. I relate all the stories about him to my kids. There was something different about his message and the principles he lived by.

"He had been an unbelievable father figure. I still relied on him to this day for direction on handling kids and situations."

In the 1970s, Grebb was known for having some good basketball teams and he would take his players everywhere. Many of his players saw most of the East Coast with Grebb, traveling to camps and tournaments. His team's traveled to basketball camps in Syracuse, Indiana and Duke among other schools.

Maxon was one of the players who got to travel around the country with Grebb to basketball camps. The exposure allowed players to earn scholarships to keep playing in college. Maxon was a two-year starter at Penn State's Harrisburg Campus.

"I have been real successful as a teacher because of a lot of lessons that Budd taught me," Maxon said. "He always said to go all out like it's your last day on earth and that's how you should attack everything in life."