HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — When Marshall Reynolds steps into the gymnasium, he's all business, right down to the same suits he wears in the corporate world.

At age 73, the chairman and CEO of printing and office furniture company Champion Industries has fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a high school basketball coach.

Reynolds joins the likes of Jim Justice, the new owner of West Virginia's Greenbrier resort, as millionaire businessmen on the hardwoods. Their pocketbooks might rival those of NBA coaches and players, but on the inside, Reynolds and Justice have followed through on a drive to mentor youth in their communities.

A simple desire, but it came with some risks for Reynolds.

The boys team at St. Joseph's High School was coming off a decent 12-9 season, but its previous coach left to join a startup private academy in Huntington and the two leading scorers from last year transferred to Huntington High.

Most of the attention at St. Joseph goes to the girls team, the defending champion in West Virginia's small-schools division. And it had been two decades since the boys team's last state tournament appearance.

Meanwhile, Reynolds' company has also commanded his attention. Earlier this month he bailed out Champion with a $3 million loan, part of a deal that gives the company time to amend a credit agreement that it defaulted on last March.

"It's absolutely terrible for my schedule," Reynolds said. "It wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. But it was a very satisfying thing."

Reynolds is up to the task so far. His team started the season with seven straight double-digit wins and a No. 3 ranking in The Associated Press' Class A state poll.

Reynolds' brother, David, is a St. Joseph's assistant and takes over in case business calls during basketball practice, but that's been rare.

"I think everybody knows that when he commits to a project, he's going to give it a lot of attention," David Reynolds said.

Reynolds' involvement in sports also has landed him in trouble.

A decade ago, the NCAA cited Reynolds for providing extra work benefits for Marshall University athletes and ordered the school to sever ties with him for at least five years. Reynolds has said he was wrongly saddled with most of the blame by the university during the NCAA investigation.

Then came an itch he just had to scratch. A few months back he called the monsignor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church with a confession — he was looking for (another) job.

"I thought, 'Well, I'm not getting any younger,'" Reynolds said. "If you're ever going to do it, you ought to give it a shot."

Just as with his employees, Reynolds keeps a close relationship and direct approach with his players.

Reynolds has brought in current Marshall coach Donnie Jones and former football coach Bob Pruett to talk to the team.

"He has a very good way of bringing it down and condensing it to a level that the kids in high school would understand," said St. Joseph senior Lance West.

Like Reynolds, Justice has been busy, too.

He's been president of the 80-team Beckley Little League since 1992 and the Greenbrier East girls basketball coach for a decade, taking the team to the state tournament for five straight seasons from 2002-06.

He bought The Greenbrier out of bankruptcy in May for $21 million. Justice also owns coal and agriculture interests. But his first love is helping kids.

Justice has financed college educations for students whose families couldn't afford it and last year bought a large percentage of the offerings at a National FFA Organization auction.

"We've always had a lot of things going on in the business world," said Justice, whose Spartans (6-3) are ninth in the Class AAA girls poll. "When I go to practice or when I'm scouting a team or watching game films, I just let the world wait. I really do. No matter who calls, no matter what's going on, they're just going to have to wait."