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Taylorsville • There were hugs and handshakes, smiles and slaps on the back. Reunions as fresh as a few months, as old as two decades.

And they all had one thing in common: a return to Salt Lake Community College to honor men's basketball coach Norm Parrish.

Last weekend marked the Bruins' first men's basketball alumni weekend, part of a weekend celebration organized to honor Parrish, who is in his 20th season as SLCC coach, and women's coach Betsy Specketer, who is in her 15th season.

"My first year here was Norm's first year here," said Chad Kartchner, who was a Bruin from 1992-94, and currently resides in Draper. "He was a lot younger then, so he used to get out on the court and kick the crap out of us because he could still play."

Kartchner was one of about 60 players who returned for the weekend's events, which include a four-team men's alumni tournament, a luncheon to honor Parrish for two decades of service, and a halftime ceremony to recognize the players who returned to SLCC.

"Some of these guys I haven't seen for a few years, so it's great," Parrish said. "We've always had really good kids here and if I didn't enjoy them I wouldn't be doing it."

About 35 players graced the rosters of men's teams, broken up by eras — 1986-95, 1995-2000, 2001-2004, and 2005-present. A handful of alumni traveled from out of state, but many remained Utahns and didn't have far to come.

"This was a chance to honor Coach Parrish," said Chuck Overton, an accountant in Draper who played for the Bruins from 1992-1994. "I love him, he's a good man and a stand-up guy. Twenty years here, that's an accomplishment."

Overton, SLCC's first National Junior College Athletic Association All-American, recounted how Parrish drove to Tucson, Ariz., to sign the high school standout.

"He drove down to my house and knocked on my door, and I was like, 'Salt Lake City?' " Overton said. "But I came here and have been here since. He's just a stand-up guy and I love him."

The weekend event was more than a year in the making, according to SLCC Athletic Director Norma Carr, who said Parrish's wife, Kaye, organized the event with the help of Facebook.

"In [Parrish's] 20th year, it's appropriate that we did this, and it's kind of exciting to see some of these guys come back," Carr said.

Parrish, whom Kartchner remembers for his catch phrase "Shut up and play," guided the Bruins to the NJCAA national championship in 2009.

A group of 29 former women's players participated in one of two alumni games on Friday night and attended a banquet after Saturday's game against Snow College.

"We had taken about five years off, for whatever reason," Specketer said of the alumni event. "So it's been a little while. It's great to bring so many of them back. It's great to see them, see their parents, see their families. It's good for all of us."

Parrish said he expects it won't take 20 more years for SLCC to host another alumni gathering.

"I think we'll try to do this more regularly," Parrish said of the alumni event. "In this computer age now, we have a good base of where they're at. Frankly, when I first got here, there weren't a lot of records left. So kids move and you lose track of them." —

Memorable weekend

SLCC honored men's basketball coach Norm Parrish for his 20 years with the Bruins as part of a weekend celebration that also included honoring women's coach Betsy Specketer for her 15 seasons at the school.

More than 60 former men's players and about 30 former women's players returned to the school for the weekend of events, which included alumni games, a luncheon to honor Parrish, and postgame banquets on Saturday night.