Five-year-old Christopher coaches youth basketball team

A pregame speech video of Christopher Bess, posted on Instagram on Feb. 23 by Héctor Gómez (@hectorgomez_27), had drawn more than 1.3 million views and grown the boy’s account past 70,000 followers in under a week, ESPN reported. In the clip, according to Fox News and ESPN, the assistant coach tells the Tarboro High School varsity boys’ basketball team: “When I say I coach my whole butt off, I say I coach my whole butt off! When I coach my whole butt off, we all play our whole butts off!”

Christopher is known as Coach CB or L’il Coach Bess. He serves as assistant to his father, Reginald Bess, head coach of the Tarboro High School team in North Carolina. His older brother, Reggie Bess, then 14 and a freshman, plays on the squad. Fox News, in a March 8, 2024 report by Madeline Coggins, identified Christopher as five years old. ABC News, in a Feb. 23 report by Mason Leib, and ESPN’s coverage from the same period described him as four.

The coaching habit started early. ESPN reported that Christopher dressed as a coach, complete with whistle, shirt and hat, for a pre-K career day. His stated dream is to follow Reginald into the profession. On game days, ESPN wrote, he eats a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios before “work,” then changes into a polo stitched with “L’il Coach Bess,” khaki pants, black Nike Air Max 270 sneakers and a pullover he keeps on until the third quarter.

Reginald told ABC News the boy’s first question after being picked up is often “Can we go to practice?” The same interview described sideline antics: Christopher shakes his head and throws down a towel when he dislikes a play. “My wife always asks me, ‘Where does he get these antics from?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know about throwing down the towel and I’ve never done that,’” Reginald said. He told ABC News he sometimes rewatches game film and sees Christopher “attached at his hip,” locked in and cheering his brother, a sight that moves him. Christopher will also cross to the opposing bench on occasion and coach against his own father and brother, according to that report.

Players treat the arrangement as ordinary. “They love him. They embrace him. Sometimes I think they listen to him more and they listen to me. But it’s just amazing to see high school guys pretty much gather around him. He’s talking to them on the sideline telling them keep their head up,” Reginald told Fox News. “It’s just amazing just to see how the kids adapt to him.” Reggie told ESPN his little brother sometimes stays on a turnover longer than their father does.