When Don Haynes retired – for the second time – in 2001, the 1948 graduate of Coeur d’Alene High School had amassed a career high school basketball coaching record of 510-225 with four state titles and too many league championships to count. Haynes built a reputation as one of the top coaches in Pacific Northwest history, coaching nine different schools across three states over the course of 40 years.
Haynes played for legendary coach Elmer Jordan at Coeur d’Alene and was a teammate and life-long friend with Don Monson – both fellow North Idaho Hall of Famers. Haynes earned a scholarship to play basketball at Eastern Washington University, but he broke his ankle and quit school shortly afterward.
Jordan convinced him to transfer to Boise Junior College and he played one year before the start of the Korean War. Haynes joined the Army but didn’t see action. Shortly after the war he married Shirley Baldwin of Calgary, Alberta and eventually had four children. Haynes transferred to Montana State University, where he played basketball during the 1954-55 season, but he left before graduation.
Haynes was hired at Wallace High School and spent two years as an assistant in football, basketball and track. He moved to Kellogg in 1959 and coached as an assistant in football and basketball. He was promoted to head football coach in 1961, won the league that season and went undefeated the following year.
He was hired as Kellogg’s head basketball coach for the 61-62 season and won the state tournament in 1964.
Haynes took over at Moscow High School that fall and over a five-year period he went 93-29. From there he went to Astoria, Oregon for two seasons, then to Twin Falls High School, where he won the state title in 1974. He coached at Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane for three seasons from 1975-78, where he went 44-27 with a first- and second-place finish in the last two years of the City League.
He moved to Meridian High School for the 1978-79 season and coached there for 10 years, including state titles in 1979 and 1983. His ’83 state championship team was named the "Greatest High School Basketball Team Ever" for Idaho by MaxPreps.
Haynes returned to Coeur d’Alene to coach his alma mater in 1988 and made three consecutive trips to state his last three years.
He retired the first time in 1992 to Milwaukie, Oregon. A couple of years later, West Linn High School convinced him to come out of retirement to replace Bart Valentine, who took a one-year leave of absence. They won league that year and Haynes eclipsed the 500-win mark for his career.
After a year volunteering for West Linn's junior varsity, Haynes retired permanently to Sandpoint in 2001.