Bullis track and field coach Joe Lee had just finished a Zoom call with the parents of his student-athletes Saturday when he received word that his former coach at George Mason, Dalton Ebanks, had passed away because complications of the coronavirus. Ebanks, 68, spent nearly two decades at Mason, first as an assistant under John Cook and then as the head coach of the Patriots’ track and field program for eight seasons before he resigned in 2005.
“Maya Angelou said, ‘When people show you who they are, believe them,’ and he showed us,” Lee, a member of the Mason team that won the 1996 NCAA indoor championship, said of Ebanks. “He wasn’t a big talker. He was very simplistic, very kind, very humble, very focused and disciplined. … He was really the quintessential person who you’d want to impact your kid’s life because he would treat you the right way and give you his best.”
Ebanks began his coaching career at Vere Technical High, his alma mater, in Jamaica. He was hired as an assistant women’s track coach at George Mason in 1986 and moved to the men’s team under Cook in 1990. His primary responsibilities included recruiting and coaching the sprinters, and he excelled at both tasks.
“He’s a great opener. I’m a great closer,” Cook told The Washington Post in 1996. “Everybody at the Division I level can coach. It’s just who you can coach.”
While Cook transformed George Mason’s nascent track program into a powerhouse after arriving from Edison High in 1978, he credited Ebanks for the Patriots ending Arkansas’ 12-year reign by claiming the team title at the 1996 NCAA indoor championships. The program’s success was built on overseas talent, and Ebanks, who once had a gun brandished at him on a recruiting trip to Zambia during a period of political unrest, was responsible for bringing most of the Patriots’ best runners to Fairfax.
“He would literally go anywhere on Earth to find the best talent that would fit our culture,” Lee said. “People from all over the world were part of our team. … Coach Cook was all fire, and Coach Ebanks was the exact opposite, so they were such a good balance.”
Lee walked on to the track team at Mason after transferring from Howard. He remembers Ebanks as a calming presence who always was chewing gum and holding a rolled up stat sheet or meet program. He wouldn’t raise his voice or get frustrated when things went poorly for the Patriots, and after his pupils won an event, he was apt to say, “It’s decent, mon. Decent. But believe me, you can go fastah.”
“He was never too high or too low,” said Lee, who has turned Bullis into a national power since his arrival at the Potomac private school in 2013. “He reminded us of who we were and what we were there to do. Ultimately, he helped us see things that were bigger than track. He was all about family.”
When Cook retired in September 1997, George Mason named Ebanks head coach. Lee said the promotion didn’t change him. Ebanks continued to drive the van to meets and remained accessible to every member of the team, Olympians and walk-ons alike.
“Coach Ebanks loved his athletes,” Jamaican Olympian Greg Haughton, another member of Mason’s 1996 championship team, told the Caribbean TV channel SportsMax. “He loved his family and he loved the track and field summer camps at the track and field house that I was also helping him with for many summers while studying at George Mason University. He had a huge heart for people, and it was obvious.”
Lee said dozens of people have shared memories of Ebanks in a private Facebook group this week. Ebanks died Saturday, which would have been the final day of the Penn Relays before they were canceled because of the pandemic for the first time since they debuted in 1895. Over the years, the historic event doubled as a de facto reunion for former members of the Mason track and field program.
“A friend of mine said he waited to go until championship Saturday was done,” Lee said. “He loved track and field, and he loved the Penn Relays. He passed away on a day that was very special to us all, and he is missed.”
My college Sprint Coach Dalton Ebanks passed away 2day due 2 Covid-19. Coach Ebanks was one of the kindest men u could ever meet. He gave me a chance 2 fulfill my Track & Field dreams at GMU where I became an All American under his care. Coach we love u & will miss u dearly!😢 pic.twitter.com/reuo927k4Z
— Joe Lee (@JoePJLee) April 26, 2020
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