80-Year-Old Wins 3 of 3 Games at Newport Beach Gym He Helped Start 25 Years Ago

Ralph Deppisch won all three games he played on a recent Tuesday morning at the Newport Beach Athletic Club, three days after his 80th birthday. Deppisch turned 80 on Oct. 17. He is 6-foot-3 and grew up in New England, and he attended Manhattan College.

Deppisch is part of a half-court three-on-three game that has run at the club for nearly 25 years, and he is one of the people who started it. The games take place on Tuesday and Friday mornings. He drives from his home near Newport Harbor High to the other side of the bay to reach the gym.

Most of the other players are in their late 50s or early 60s. Deppisch said he began playing Horse with Mike Saunders at the gym in the early 2000s. Saunders is the UC Irvine men's tennis coach. Then Steve and Darren Morris arrived to play two-on-two, and the game grew from there.

Deppisch said the group once played for a $20 Peet's Coffee card. Steve Morris, who stands 6-foot-7 and played basketball at Corona del Mar High, is the commissioner of the group and handles the phone calls and texts that organize the games. Robert Morris, another Corona del Mar basketball alumnus, said Deppisch made 80% of his shots in a Friday game, including a left-hand hook against a 6-foot-10 player.

Kelley Crosby, a member of the three-on-three group, calls Deppisch The Godfather. Crosby said Deppisch is semi-retired from the games and steps in when the group needs a body, such as when a player gets sick or rolls an ankle. "It's like he's putting on his cape," Crosby said. "Ralph will be up there on the treadmill. He'll come down and throw in a little hook shot, bank it in on us, and everybody will be like, 'Wow, he still has it.'"

Saunders, who has played alongside Deppisch in three-on-three games, compared him to Larry Bird. "He's an unbelievable basketball player," Saunders said. "He's like Larry Bird with a little more finesse and grace, I would say." Deppisch said his favorite player of all time is Bird.

Deppisch said he gives himself a soft "B" for his current level of play. "I can hold my own," he said. "I did enough that they invited me back." Robert Morris called him a "total inspiration" and said, "You can't believe he's 80, the things he does."

The Newport Beach Athletic Club has been run by the Bazacas family for 55 years, first by John Bazacas and now by his son, Tom. Tom Bazacas said, "It's great to have an environment for these guys to all be friends and work out." Deppisch began playing basketball in the second grade and calls his time in the sport "my 8 to 80 run." The group's next scheduled games are Tuesday and Friday mornings at the club.