There is a part of me that will tell you that the best basketball team in the Philadelphia region does not play at the college level.

That distinction just might be reserved for the Chester Clippers, who sealed the deal on an incredible season with an 81-77 win over Norristown Saturday night in State College to capture the state AAAA title.

Just how good are the Clippers? This good. Norristown was undefeated this season - against anybody other than Chester. The Eagles played 34 games this season. They won 32 of them. They played Chester High twice, and lost both games, once in the District 1 final and once in the AAAA state championship game.

Sunday, Chester threw a little party for the victorious Clippers in the city. They deserved every bit of it.

So did their coach, who stunned his players, fans and the city by announcing after the game Saturday night that he would be stepping down.

Fred Pickett led the Clippers to 331 wins in his 13 years at the helm. His teams won three state titles, eight District 1 crowns and compiled eight trips to the state final four. His record stands at 331-80.

But that’s not his greatest accomplishment. Pickett was a mentor, a molder of men.

He didn’t just coach basketball. He coached life. Chester High – and Delaware County – was a better place because of him.

Next year there will be a new man at the helm of Chester High basketball. He will face an almost insurmountable legacy.

Countless young lives have been shaped by Fred Pickett. His teams played with the passion and skill inspired by their coach. But it was always the way his teams conducted themselves off the court that is the other hallmark of this legendary coach.

Those numbers don’t show up on the scoreboard. They show up in life.

Pickett’s legacy, the incredible numbers of his Chester coaching career, speak for themselves.

But it’s the numbers you don’t see, and the results off the court, for which a school, a city, and a county will be forever in his debt.

Well done, coach.