The bond between a player and a coach is often a strong one, and that can be especially true during the very formative high school years. It is not uncommon to hear professional athletes talk about the impact that his or her high school coach had on their career. For R.J. Hampton, this seems to be the case. On Friday, he took to social media in order to share his thoughts after hearing of the passing of his high school coach, Rusty Segler. Hampton, who graduated in 2019 from Little Elm High School in Texas, grieved the loss of his former coach with kind words on Twitter.

In another tweet, Hampton shed even more light on the close relationship that he had with Segler. Hampton states that when he found out in his junior year that Segler would not be returning to Little Elm, he decided he did not want to play for anyone else in high school, prompting him to forego his senior year and graduate early. This is a very touching tribute, especially for a player of his age to make.

Diving further into Hampton’s Twitter feed, his followers can gain an even better understanding of the relationship he shared with Segler. Hampton retweeted a video done by “Inside High School Sports” in 2019, and you can tell by watching Hampton talk about Segler that their relationship went far beyond that of just a player and coach.

The Denver Stiffs are sending their thoughts to R.J. as he grieves this loss, as well as to Segler’s family and friends and all of the players that he coached in his career.