Gene Paxton coached Grand Rapids Community College basketball teams to over 500 wins in 25 years as the head coach, and he called them the best years of his life. He started coaching at the school in 1965 and retired after the 1990 season as the winningest coach in school history with a record of 517-280. His teams won five league championships and appeared several times in national junior college post-season tournaments.

A fast-paced pressing and running attack were the hallmark of his teams, and he welcomed troubled young athletes and impacted them with his coaching and advice. He coached David Selmon, who is the second winningest coach in GRCC history.

When inducted to the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 he was 86 and living with his wife, Mary, in Spring Lake. He is a member of the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan Hall of Fame, and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps where he served in battle in Korea, received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for bravery and later was a drill instructor.