Terry Dunn opened the double doors at Sierra while sporting shorts, white sneakers and a short-sleeved dress shirt.

That’s a stark contrast to his usual maroon sweater and white dress shirt paired with dark slacks while walking the sidelines during Stallions’ basketball games.

As he entered the teacher’s lounge, he sat on a couch and cycled through his mental rolodex of sports stories.

One included why he has a vertical scar on his left knee.

“I had my patella tendon repaired after my college days,” Dunn said. “Father Time is undefeated. (The scar) is part of the journey.”

Part of the journey is also the end.

The veteran coach retired June 7 after a career that spanned five decades and included multiple Harrison School District 2 and Division-I stops.

Dunn’s venture into coaching began shortly after one of his best collegiate basketball performances.

Dunn played for the University of Northern Colorado from 1974-77. In 1977, Dunn faced Freeman Williams, a highly touted NBA prospect from Portland State.

While asked what he recalled from their matchup, Dunn chuckled as he reminisced on his game-high 39 points against Williams.

However, Dunn said reporters focused on the future NBA star rather than his scoring eruption.

“It was more about Freeman having an illness, I think it was the flu,” Dunn said. “That was the gist of the article. At that point I realized that I’d better get a daytime job.”

That led Dunn to Colorado Springs, where he coached the Harrison boys basketball team for eight seasons from 1982-1990 and built the Panthers into a formidable opponent.

“Superintended Dr. Hal Terry gave me my first coaching opportunity,” Dunn said. “I have to thank people who have been instrumental to me in terms of coaching high school basketball here in Colorado Springs.”

Dunn parlayed his success at Harrison into multiple assistant coaching positions to include jobs at Army, Air Force, Colorado State University and University of Colorado Boulder.

Dunn earned his first Division-I head coaching position at Dartmouth, an Ivy League school, in 2004.

“Terry brings a great breadth of experience and maturity to the program,” said then-Dartmouth Athletic Director Josie Harper in a press release. “He has an impressive résumé‚ and has played an instrumental role in rebuilding programs at Colorado and Colorado State.”

Dunn spent five and a half seasons at Dartmouth, but resigned his position Jan. 10, 2010.

“It didn’t end the way that I wanted it to, but we did some good things there in five years,” Dunn said. “I always said if I were out of college coaching, I would go back to Harrison District 2 where I started my career because this has been a great community for me and my family and a great working experience.”

Whether by coincidence or happenstance, Dunn got his wish.

After Sierra’s previous coach, Otis Johnson, led the Stallions’ boys team to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010, he stepped down to focus on his family.

Dunn then took the reins of the Stallions’ squad.

“It’s rare for a high school program to benefit from someone that has coached college ball,” then-Sierra Athletic Director Angela Prochnow said. “This is something that is unique and exciting.”

Following his first season, when Sierra finished 14-9, Dunn coached the Stallions to the title game in 2012 and Sierra nearly captured its third title in four seasons but lost 44-43 to Lewis-Palmer in the 4A championship game.

The Stallions went 194-140 during Dunn’s tenure. And his leadership outweighed his success as a coach.

Bryant Perryman, who played basketball at Harrison in the 2000s and served as an assistant coach for Dunn at Sierra for 10 years, said Dunn consistently demonstrated the importance of empathy.

“He taught me that (coaching) is mainly about developing kids and developing doesn’t always mean winning and losing,” Perryman said. “As a coach, you’re going to take some losses. If it’s all about winning, that means you’re not developing kids how you’re supposed to do.”

Perryman, who’s now the boys basketball coach at Vista Ridge, recalled times at Sierra where, “We had a couple of kids on the team who were a handful.”

Perryman said Dunn always handled those athletes and situations with poise and patience.

“I thought one thing about a kid but he said, ‘Coach I’m confused. … I thought our job was trying to save young men, not get rid of them?’” Perryman said. “He was saying that kids are going to be hard at times. That it’s not on us to judge them, our job is to keep helping them. If they quit on us, that’s a different story. But if they show up every day and they keep coming, we must work with them.

“… Yeah, team chemistry might go down a little, but our purpose is not for the wins and the losses, it’s to help young men out. If we’re not doing that, then we’re not doing our jobs.”

That belief stretches outside the lines for Dunn as well.

Wendy Birhanzel, HSD2 superintendent, also noted how Dunn’s work benefits students at Sierra and the Career Readiness Academy, where Dunn serves as principal.

“It has been an honor to witness coach Dunn’s work,” Birhanzel said in a release. “His commitment to excellence and unwavering support for his players are the gold standard in coaching. While Coach Dunn has many victories and impressive titles, the real wins are the lives he’s impacted. His former players continue to seek him out to show their appreciation for the way he changed their trajectory.”

Dunn will continue his role as principal at the Career Readiness Academy at Sierra, and said he remains adamant about helping students in the Southeast.

While Dunn said he’ll miss coaching, he added that he’s grateful for the opportunity he has as an educator.

“I had to think about, not just my basketball players, but my students in general,” Dunn said. “I didn’t feel like I could do justice for both. And that was an integral piece in my decision making.”

As Dunn continued to recall basketball stories during his tenure at Sierra, he said one on the court – among several dozen – stuck out.

In 2012 during the Great 8 game against D’Evelyn, Wesley Gordon scored a left-handed layup with four seconds left in the fourth quarter off an assist from Jalen Little.

Gordan’s bucket gave Sierra a 65-63 win and sent the Stallions to the Final 4 and on to the championship game.

But Dunn said a compliment he received from a spectator, “Meant more to me than anything.”

“Someone came to me after a game and he said, ‘I want you to know I enjoy watching your teams play,’” Dunn said. “He said, ‘It doesn’t matter if they’re good or average, you coach them the same and they always play hard.’”

In 2015, Dunn told The Gazette’s Paul Klee that it’s rare when coaching stories have happy endings.

Although this season concluded with the Stallions finishing 16-8 and a first-round playoff loss, Dunn said his final chapter as a coach was “remarkable.”

“It’s not all about wins and losses,” Dunn said. “For me, it’s been about the journey and people who have been involved on the journey with me. This is a happy ending for me. I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to be involved in my passion and do what’s been my passion for 41 years. Not many people get to do that.”

Terry Dunn’s coaching career

1982–1990 Harrison High School

1990–1991 West Point (assistant)

1991–1994 Air Force (assistant)

1994–1996 Colorado State (assistant)

1996–2004 Colorado (assistant)

2004–2010 Dartmouth (first Division-I head coaching job)

2010-2024 Sierra

Terry Dunn’s record at Sierra

2010-11: 14-9

*2011-12: 26-2

2012-13: 15-10

2013-14: 10-14

2014-15: 23-4

2015-16: 20-5

2016-17: 20-5

2017-18: 13-12

2018-19: 14-12

2019-20: 10-14

**2020-21: 3-10

2021-22: 3-19

2022-23: 7-16

2023-24: 16-8

*Lost to Lewis-Palmer in 4A championship game

**Denotes COVID-shortened season