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12-20-2009, 07:04 PM
rojas Wrote:Hicks took Corbin to the state tournament for the first time in 40 years. While he was at Corbin he was in the same region as the top high school program (Clay Co) in the state during those years. The year before Hicks arrived at Corbin the Hounds won two games I think. The last year he was at Corbin the Hounds were ranked #1 in the state in both the LCJ and the LHL. Hicks was state coach of the year at least once while at Corbin.
Hicks best coaching job may have been at Evarts. Cawood and Cumberland were state powerhouses in 82/83. Evarts beat both Cawood and Cumberland on back to back nights to win the district championship. He has won big everywhere he has been.
I agree with all points. Not taking anything away from Hicks, he is a great coach and has built a state power while at Scott Co. My point, however, would be that while Hicks name deserves to be mentioned with the top coaches in EASTERN KY, I feel Mays resmue is better than Hicks, if we are just considering the time Hicks spent in eastern Kentucky. Lets not forget that Mays also took a team to the state tourney for the first time in history of the Elliott County program and then went on to coach in 3 straight.
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12-21-2009, 10:23 AM
Bobby Keith.
12-21-2009, 12:01 PM
palmer Wrote:Make your own lists if you don't like someone else's.
Are we touchy or what???? I ask a simple question. :moon:
12-21-2009, 01:58 PM
There has many top coaches here in eastern Kentucky but the one name nobody has mentioned has been that of Russell Williamson of Inez and John Bull Trivette of Pikeville.
12-22-2009, 01:31 AM
rojas Wrote:Let me get this straight. Your comparing Mays accomplishments with Hicks accomplishments?
Not by any means, if your cosiderning Hicks entire career. There is no doubt he has accomplished more, while coaching in central Kentucky.
All I am saying is, if you look at Hicks accomplishments while at Evarts and Corbin, Mays resmue is just as good if not better while Hicks was at those two schools. I'm just comparing the two while Hicks was in Eastern Kentucky.
12-22-2009, 04:52 AM
welcometothejungle Wrote:I agree with all points. Not taking anything away from Hicks, he is a great coach and has built a state power while at Scott Co. My point, however, would be that while Hicks name deserves to be mentioned with the top coaches in EASTERN KY, I feel Mays resmue is better than Hicks, if we are just considering the time Hicks spent in eastern Kentucky. Lets not forget that Mays also took a team to the state tourney for the first time in history of the Elliott County program and then went on to coach in 3 straight.
How many losing seasons did Mays have? I'm not that familiar with his record. Did he compete with the region's elite teams several other times besides the recent run?
Hicks built Evarts into a winning program. He returned Harlan to being a winning program after it had dropped off. Corbin was pretty bad when he got there, and he turned them into a winning team and probably would have won several regional titles if not for Clay's run.
12-22-2009, 09:34 AM
Down and Out Wrote:There has many top coaches here in eastern Kentucky but the one name nobody has mentioned has been that of Russell Williamson of Inez and John Bull Trivette of Pikeville.
That's because 99% of the posters in this thread are not old enough to even remember anything past 2000. I doubt if they have even heard of either one of those guys.
hh:Add Howard Wendall Wallen to the list.
12-22-2009, 02:34 PM
I think the title of this thraead is a little misleading. It's hard to choose a Best Coach from EKY, because a lot of your really good coaches were coaching before consolidation occured. I'm going to talk about the coaches that were in this time period from the 57th District and the 15th Region. It was a lot harder before consolidation to even get out of your District. The 57th Dist. alone had at least 10 teams. Coaches like Wendell Wallen (Meade Memorial), Rusty Yates (Oil Springs, which came into the 57th in 1964-65 season, I think.) Billy Ray Casidy (Inez), Jesse Salyers (Flat Gap). In Floyd Co in the 58th coaches like Denzil"Hoss" Halbert (Martin Purple Flash), Pete Grigsby (McDowell),Gene Frazier (Maytown). These are just a few, but these guys could x and o with anyone today IMO. I'm sure I've left some out and I apologize for not doing my home work. These are just off the top of my head.
Russell Williamson (Inez) might be the best of the bunch, I didn't mention him before now because I never saw Coach Williamson at his craft. That was a little before my time, but his credintials put him in the top of his craft along with Coach B. Trivitt at Pikeville. I would say that 80% or better have never heard of any of these gentlemen, and it's a shame really. After consolidation happened it was much easier to make a name for yourself because the competition was watered down. In the 57th you go from 5 schools to 2 schools. I will say this in closing this little rant that without consoloidation Paintsville High would'nt have made 8 trips to the sweet 16 in the last 25 years, with the other 4 schools in the county the players would have stayed in their districts.JMO
Russell Williamson (Inez) might be the best of the bunch, I didn't mention him before now because I never saw Coach Williamson at his craft. That was a little before my time, but his credintials put him in the top of his craft along with Coach B. Trivitt at Pikeville. I would say that 80% or better have never heard of any of these gentlemen, and it's a shame really. After consolidation happened it was much easier to make a name for yourself because the competition was watered down. In the 57th you go from 5 schools to 2 schools. I will say this in closing this little rant that without consoloidation Paintsville High would'nt have made 8 trips to the sweet 16 in the last 25 years, with the other 4 schools in the county the players would have stayed in their districts.JMO
12-22-2009, 02:38 PM
kyrifle Wrote:I think the title of this thraead is a little misleading. It's hard to choose a Best Coach from EKY, because a lot of your really good coaches were coaching before consolidation occured. I'm going to talk about the coaches that were in this time period from the 57th District and the 15th Region. It was a lot harder before consolidation to even get out of your District. The 57th Dist. alone had at least 10 teams. Coaches like Wendell Wallen (Meade Memorial), Rusty Yates (Oil Springs, which came into the 57th in 1964-65 season, I think.) Billy Ray Casidy (Inez), Jesse Salyers (Flat Gap). In Floyd Co in the 58th coaches like Denzil"Hoss" Halbert (Martin Purple Flash), Pete Grigsby (McDowell),Gene Frazier (Maytown). These are just a few, but these guys could x and o with anyone today IMO. I'm sure I've left some out and I apologize for not doing my home work. These are just off the top of my head.
Russell Williamson (Inez) might be the best of the bunch, I didn't mention him before now because I never saw Coach Williamson at his craft. That was a little before my time, but his credintials put him in the top of his craft along with Coach B. Trivitt at Pikeville. I would say that 80% or better have never heard of any of these gentlemen, and it's a shame really. After consolidation happened it was much easier to make a name for yourself because the competition was watered down. In the 57th you go from 5 schools to 2 schools. I will say this in closing this little rant that without consoloidation Paintsville High would'nt have made 8 trips to the sweet 16 in the last 25 years, with the other 4 schools in the county the players would have stayed in their districts.JMO
That should read, in Johnson Co , in the 57th you go from 5 teams to 2 teams. Sorry........
12-23-2009, 07:00 AM
kyrifle Wrote:I'm sorry to say that I have never heard the name. Where and when did he coach?
Joe Gilly coached Harlan in the mid 40s. He developed Harlan into the #1 basketball program in the state in those years. I think he went to 3 final 4s with 1 state championship and 1 runner up. After leaving Harlan Gilly won another state championship in Maryland.
One the Mays debate, Mays may have had a losing record for his career. How can we choose a coach with a loosing record as one of the all time top 10 coaches in eastern Kentucky?
12-23-2009, 04:40 PM
palmer Wrote:How many losing seasons did Mays have? I'm not that familiar with his record. Did he compete with the region's elite teams several other times besides the recent run?
Hicks built Evarts into a winning program. He returned Harlan to being a winning program after it had dropped off. Corbin was pretty bad when he got there, and he turned them into a winning team and probably would have won several regional titles if not for Clay's run.
Im not sure the total amount but of course Mays had losing seasons. He coached for 32 years at a class A school in eastern Kentucky. All of those kind of schools are going to have talent gaps. For the most part, however, Mays always had competetive teams inside the 16th region.
12-23-2009, 07:22 PM
rojas Wrote:One the Mays debate, Mays may have had a losing record for his career. How can we choose a coach with a loosing record as one of the all time top 10 coaches in eastern Kentucky?
If that's true, you can't compare.
Hicks probably won 70 percent of his games at Evarts and Harlan, both Class A schools and was even better at Corbin.
12-23-2009, 08:15 PM
during this time i have to either al holland,allen hatcher,or dave fraley back in the day i have to say morton combs
12-25-2009, 12:25 PM
rojas Wrote:Joe Gilly coached Harlan in the mid 40s. He developed Harlan into the #1 basketball program in the state in those years. I think he went to 3 final 4s with 1 state championship and 1 runner up. After leaving Harlan Gilly won another state championship in Maryland.
One the Mays debate, Mays may have had a losing record for his career. How can we choose a coach with a loosing record as one of the all time top 10 coaches in eastern Kentucky?
Spoke with a couple old, old timers that remembered coach Gilly, the also remembered a coach by the name of Charles McClurg that led Harlan to the runner up spot in 1942. Joe Gilly was coaching at the same time Inez legendary coach Russell Williamson coached. I looked the year up to make sure that they were remembering correctly, and they were spot on.
Thanks for the information.
12-25-2009, 01:40 PM
What about Don Wallen? I know he did most of his coaching in Florida but he coached here also In Wheelwright, Ky . He had over 750 wins in his career and 3 state titles in florida and is in the Florida Basketball hall of fame . I think his record in WHeelwright was 219-37 .
12-25-2009, 01:57 PM
Billnz28 Wrote:What about Don Wallen? I know he did most of his coaching in Florida but he coached here also In Wheelwright, Ky . He had over 750 wins in his career and 3 state titles in florida and is in the Florida Basketball hall of fame . I think his record in WHeelwright was 219-37 .
What years did he coach at Wheelwright ?
12-25-2009, 02:26 PM
12-25-2009, 02:29 PM
Found another. Said he began his coaching career in 1957.
http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/Vie...ID=1365131
http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/Vie...ID=1365131
12-25-2009, 08:24 PM
rojas Wrote:Joe Gilly coached Harlan in the mid 40s. He developed Harlan into the #1 basketball program in the state in those years. I think he went to 3 final 4s with 1 state championship and 1 runner up. After leaving Harlan Gilly won another state championship in Maryland.
One the Mays debate, Mays may have had a losing record for his career. How can we choose a coach with a loosing record as one of the all time top 10 coaches in eastern Kentucky?
I am almost positive Mays did not have a losing record for his career. He was 125-33 the last 5 years of his career.
12-26-2009, 03:54 PM
Ky313 Wrote:IMO David Fraley deserves to be alot higher.
:Thumbs::Thumbs: I agree at least in the top 5. Another Coach would be Dave Schulz. He's won a few district championships and been in the regional final a few times. But what people dont see is the work that he actually does with the boys at practice. He works with each of the, one on one and even practices with them and I mean he runs with them he lifts with them he does it all.
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