FAIRMONT — What exactly made Joe Retton great?

The question seemed simple at the time it was asked, still does from the surface.

The answer, though, is far more complicated when talking about Fairmont State’s legendary men’s basketball coach from 1964-82.

It was the Marion County native’s never-ending pursuit of perfection, his demanding yet caring style of teaching, his innovative defensive strategies, his utter distain for mistakes.

But perhaps more than anything, according to several who played for Retton, it was his ability to build a team, little by little, brick by brick, and make it all mold together.

“The picture was there, and he had a knack of putting the puzzle together,” Rivesville native and former Fairmont State player Bill Furgason said of his college coach in the mid-1960s.

In most instances, the pieces fit just right.

After a wildly successful run at Barrackville High School that included a 27-0 season and a Class A state championship, Retton came to Fairmont State and began a remarkable run.

In 19 seasons with the Falcons, he won 478 games, lost just 95 and amassed a seen-to-believed .836 winning percentage.

And that wasn’t all, far from it.

His teams qualified 12 times for the NAIA Tournament and reached the Final Four on four occasions. He won 12 West Virginia Conference championships and eight WVC Tournament titles. He coached and developed nine All-Americans.

According to Furgason, who himself became a winning coach at Rivesville High School in the 1970s, success playing for Retton was based on a few key principles.

“He never believed that defense could have an off night,” he said. “And everyone had a role, but nobody’s role was more important than the other.”

Retton also believed that every player who put on the maroon and white knew what his range was. That is, which kind of shot suited his playing style and which didn’t.

“Who’s going to get the shot is the man who is open. This made us a team. Who shoots? The guy who is open within his range,” Retton told the Times West Virginian in 2006.

“Everyone who played for us knew what his range was. If you shot out of range, you were playing for the opposition. Each youngster knew his range. Our youngsters did a fantastic job with the shot selection.”

And if you forgot your range and took an ill-advised shot, coach would let you know about it.

“He’d give you one mistake. On the second, the horn would sound and you’d be on the bench,” Furgason said.

“He didn’t tolerate mistakes. Today you see coaches pull a player, send them to the end of the bench and not say a word. Not coach Retton. If you made a mistake, he (would let you know). You would’ve liked to go to the end of the bench.”

Looking back, those moments are something his former players appreciate today. That certainly applies to Dave Cooper. a former Falcons’ standout who was named a first-team NAIA All-American and West Virginia State Amateur Athlete of the Year in 1971. He later was an assistant under Retton, and also was the team’s head coach before becoming FSU athletic director.

“You always knew where you stood and knew what to expect at all times. There were no surprises — ever,” he said.

Perfection was expected, and on occasion the Falcons came narrowly close. Thanks in part to shorter in-season practices to keep their legs fresh, Cooper remembers the team routinely scoring 90-plus points in a game, all during a time when the shot clock and 3-point line hadn’t yet been realized.

Even the losses were close to mistake-free. In a 51-48 loss to Central State in the 1968 NAIA title game, Fairmont State committed just three turnovers.

“Some games were pretty perfect,” Cooper said.

The team’s system played a big role, too.

On offense, the Falcons got out, ran and took advantage of their athletic ability. On the other end of the floor, Retton used a man-to-man/zone defense hybrid to drive opponents crazy.

People today call the alignment the match-up zone.

“What is a match-up? I don’t know,” Retton said. “You try to match up with the other players no matter what the circumstances on the floor. We called ours man-to-man in a zone.”

Said Cooper of the system: “It wasn’t complicated. He had a system in his head and he could visualize what he wanted done. It was like blinders on him and his players. It was drilled in us.”

“It was tough love,” Furgason said. “He had high expectations and tried to get as much out of you as he could. You come from high school and you’re pampered and used to being the star, and sometimes you have to break a kid, like when you join the Army. (Tell them) this isn’t about me. That’s what special about basketball; everything is for the team.”

Long after the coaching was done and the basketballs were put away for good, Retton and his players have remained close.

For some, he’s been like a father figure. For others, like Cooper and Furgason, he’s been a wonderful friend. Cooper makes sure to visit regularly, while Furgason, after a recent setback, got a call from his former mentor once a week to see how he was progressing.

“That’s just the way he is,” Furgason said of Retton. “I give him credit for a lot of the success in my life.”

E-mail Nick Cammuso at ncammuso@timeswv.com.