14 Facts About Joe Marelle

Joe Marelle is one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Georgia.

Joe Marelle was named head basketball coach at Duluth High School in 1981, where he coached for 19 seasons.

Joe Marelle was the school's athletic director from 1991 to 2001.

Joe Marelle was named the Gwinnett County Coach of the Year in 1985,1986, and 1995.

Joe Marelle graduated from the University of North Florida with a degree in physical education and earned a master's degree from the University of Tennessee in 1975.

Joe Marelle was first diagnosed with cancer in 1998 after experiencing severe pain during a trip to San Antonio, Texas, where he was a coach at the National Basketball Coaches Association's Final Four.

Joe Marelle was diagnosed with a supposedly incurable form of stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma and given only six months to live.

Joe Marelle underwent six years of chemotherapy treatments which eventually put his lymphoma into remission, but which contributed to his second cancer diagnosis of acute leukemia.

Joe Marelle was given a life-saving experimental bone marrow transplant from his oldest son and was able to return to coaching in 2005 as head coach at Mount Pisgah Christian School.

Joe Marelle accepted the invitation and went on to host a Coaches vs Cancer fundraiser, auctioning pieces of sports memorabilia.

Joe Marelle's experiences were the subject of the book Coaching To Defeat Cancer, which discusses the success stories of nine basketball coaches and cancer survivors.

Joe Marelle sent a letter to Larry Shyatt, then the head coach at Clemson University, in which he relayed his health situation and urged Shyatt and his players to keeping fighting hard in the midst of an eight-game losing streak during the 2000 to 2001 season.

Joe Marelle was presented an autographed ball from the American Cancer Society for his involvement with Coaches vs Cancer awareness.

Joe Marelle was named the 2005 to 2006 Georgia Independent School Association Coach of the Year.