'I've loved every minute of it': Fifth-grade coach retires after 40 years

Dave Nelson smiled as the basketball swished through the net in the final second of regulation to force overtime in the Hough Street Elementary School boys basketball game Friday in Barrington. Two more minutes of play seemed like a poetic finish after 40 years of coaching the fifth-grade boys team.

"I've loved every minute of it," Nelson, the former mayor of Barrington, told an adoring crowd of parents and school administrators. "I'm pretty emotional. This has been amazing."

After the game, former Hough Principal Jim Alfs and current Principal Zach Ernst gathered the rowdy players together on the court for a ceremony. Nelson was given an autographed basketball and a plaque that will hang outside the door to the school's gymnasium in his honor.

He teared up as he thanked the administrators and told the players to continue to be good students and classmates and to always represent Hough Street School as they move on in life.

"You guys are awesome," he said as photos were snapped. "There's nothing better than fifth-grade basketball. I don't know what I'm going to do now."