Former IU, Bloomington South tennis coach Greer dies at 86
There will be a noticeable absence around Bloomington South tennis this fall, as big as if the nets were missing from the middle of the courts.
Scott Greer, a former head coach at Indiana University who spent the later part of his coaching career at South, as both head coach and assistant, passed away on July 11 at the age of 86, losing his long battle with multiple forms of cancer.
"He had sworn me to secrecy," current South boys coach Matt Corry said. "He was a strong man and didn't want anyone's sympathy. He was also a private guy.
"He had a tumor removed in his throat around Christmas. Ten years ago, he had part of his liver removed. This one, it came back, and he thought he had maybe months. I called him two days later, and he sounded terrible. I called again two days later and no one answered. He texted back our days of talking were over."
Greer, affectionately known for much of life as 'Bones', a nicknamed tagged on him by one of his former players, had survived both of his wives, losing Pat to cancer in 1999 and then Maggie, also medical conditions, in May of 2020.
More:South's Greer always at home teaching tennis
Greer was South's head coach for much of the 1990s before switching over to a assistant's role with the Panthers and was a volunteer, even after he announced his retirement. He just couldn't stay away.
"He helped out, even last season," Corry said. "I was very intentional in getting everything I could out of him. He was go good at caring for people. I knew it was mutually beneficial. It gave the boys a lot and it gave him a lot back."
Corry helped clean out one of Greer's closets and now has a pile of memorabilia at his house, including t-shirt after t-shirt with some sort of bones theme to it. He hopes to make sure the impact Greer had isn't forgotten. A painted portrait of Scott and Maggie was hung at the South courts in September of 2020.
"I'm trying to figure out how to honor him," Corry said. "There are a lot of reminders of the legacy he lived and what we intend to carry on. The biggest take away, the thing that matters most is how he lived, his love and his care for people and resiliently showing up.
"He was present. That's a lesson that's harder and harder to come by these days."
Details on Greer's burial and funeral plans are available in the link below.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Former IU, Bloomington South tennis coach Scott Greer dies at 86
