[RunItUpTheGut]

Corbin still wishes they could have kept Hicks and Jones another 2-3 years.

[rojas]

I wonder who Hicks' first win was against (1978-79 season, I think). I looked up Mike Jones' record when he won his 600th earlier this year (19th coach in Kentucky history I think) and his first season (at Cawood) was against Billy Hicks and Harlan on Dec. 3, 1983.
To address an earlier point by Rojas, Billy asked me once about a game he won at Evarts against Keokee, Va., but the record book was not available and the Enterprise did not cover it (before my time there), so there was no proof.

Billy's first win was against Jackson City. It was at a tournament in Williamsburg. Evarts ended up winning 10 games that year. It was probably the hardest 10 wins Billy ever got.

I remember well Mike Jones first win. It was against Harlan at Cawood. Cawood was a very heavy favorite. Harlan had only won 4 or 5 games the year before I believe. Former Harlan coach Doyle Troutman had made the comment that with the players Hicks had selected for his team, that he could only see maybe two wins. The game went down to the wire and Cawood did win. I remember Billy phoning me after the game. He was very excited in how well his team had played. I think Harlan won the rematch with Cawood at Harlan and Cawood also beat Harlan in a another game that went down to the wire in the 52nd district tournament that year.

I think you and Billy are both wrong about the Keokee thing. The discrepancy with your records was in the 82/83 season. EHS's record that year was 20-10. I remember it was a pretty big deal for Evarts to get 20 wins. I think you always listed them as 19-10 or 19-11. Evarts did not play Keokee. I think the discrepancy could be with the Bell Co/Evarts Game. Bell Co won on the floor but had to forfeit the game due to an ineligible player. I can remember most of the games from that year but not all. I remember EHS having some big wins against Cawood, Cumberland (twice) and regional champion Middlesboro.

[rojas]

Corbin still wishes they could have kept Hicks and Jones another 2-3 years.

Hicks and Jones did not leave Corbin at the same time. Jones moved to Scott County 3 years after Hicks had been there.

[rojas]

He wouldn't be close if he hadn't left the 13th region. Bobby kieth had his number.

Keith did have his number for the majority of the time Hicks was at Corbin. However, the last couple years Hicks was at Corbin his hounds were beating Clay Co regularly.

[rojas]

Ppl can hate on Hicks all they want but he does a great job. His teams play as hard as any team I've ever seen. Toyota of Gtown has help n getting players there but can you truly blame him. He has done a great job!! Congrats to him and his family. Just think how many lives this guy has touched over the years. Awesome story and I hope he breaks the all time wins record. Good to see Mtn boys doing good things!!

The Toyota thing is a common misconception. Scott County has had only one transfer ever that a parent worked at Toyota. Granted, he was a darn good one.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Hicks and Jones did not leave Corbin at the same time. Jones moved to Scott County 3 years after Hicks had been there.

I never said they left together.....

That was my reason for saying they wish they would of had them BOTH for 2-3 more years.

[bear claw]

Not to get off topic with Coach Hicks but am I reading Coach Keen's records right not only in basketball but football? Is this man is still alive? I would like to meet him if he is. Coaching two major sports and have those records is amazing.

[HDE]

Billy's first win was against Jackson City. It was at a tournament in Williamsburg. Evarts ended up winning 10 games that year. It was probably the hardest 10 wins Billy ever got.

I remember well Mike Jones first win. It was against Harlan at Cawood. Cawood was a very heavy favorite. Harlan had only won 4 or 5 games the year before I believe. Former Harlan coach Doyle Troutman had made the comment that with the players Hicks had selected for his team, that he could only see maybe two wins. The game went down to the wire and Cawood did win. I remember Billy phoning me after the game. He was very excited in how well his team had played. I think Harlan won the rematch with Cawood at Harlan and Cawood also beat Harlan in a another game that went down to the wire in the 52nd district tournament that year.

I think you and Billy are both wrong about the Keokee thing. The discrepancy with your records was in the 82/83 season. EHS's record that year was 20-10. I remember it was a pretty big deal for Evarts to get 20 wins. I think you always listed them as 19-10 or 19-11. Evarts did not play Keokee. I think the discrepancy could be with the Bell Co/Evarts Game. Bell Co won on the floor but had to forfeit the game due to an ineligible player. I can remember most of the games from that year but not all. I remember EHS having some big wins against Cawood, Cumberland (twice) and regional champion Middlesboro.

I remember you mentioning the Bell game, and not that I doubt you would be wrong, but I never saw any documentation of that forfeit. It's so hard to change records after 30-plus years. I bet Bell still counts it as a win in their records.
We had a discussion about another game entirely though, and I'm pretty sure it was Keokee because I think Billy said Roger Morris was coaching.
That 83 Evarts team will always be my favorite Evarts team. They were a lot of fun to watch. I remember them beating very good Cumberland and Cawood teams to win the district and then an athletic OBI team in the regional at Knox Central. They almost got Middlesboro in the semifinals. If they had it would have been an all-Harlan County final that year. Cawood lost in overtime to Middlesboro on an extremely controversial ending when the clock didn't start and Middlesboro got up two shots to tie it.

[rojas]

Not to get off topic with Coach Hicks but am I reading Coach Keen's records right not only in basketball but football? Is this man is still alive? I would like to meet him if he is. Coaching two major sports and have those records is amazing.

Without a doubt he was a great coach. Coach Keen coached during the days of segregation. The "colored" schools didn't compete with the "white" schools. Central High School was huge. It took in black students from all over Jefferson County. Until 1956 it was the only high school in all of Louisville that took in black students. As you can imagine their talent level must have been great. Other large "colored" schools in Kentucky were Paul Dunbar and Douglas high schools in Lexington. Most of the schools Central competed against were very small.

In the 1950s Central won three colored school national championships. In those days state champions from all over America competed in Nashville for the colored school national championship.

Coach Keen was very well respected not only in Louisville and Kentucky but throughout America.

[rojas]

I remember you mentioning the Bell game, and not that I doubt you would be wrong, but I never saw any documentation of that forfeit. It's so hard to change records after 30-plus years. I bet Bell still counts it as a win in their records.
We had a discussion about another game entirely though, and I'm pretty sure it was Keokee because I think Billy said Roger Morris was coaching.
That 83 Evarts team will always be my favorite Evarts team. They were a lot of fun to watch. I remember them beating very good Cumberland and Cawood teams to win the district and then an athletic OBI team in the regional at Knox Central. They almost got Middlesboro in the semifinals. If they had it would have been an all-Harlan County final that year. Cawood lost in overtime to Middlesboro on an extremely controversial ending when the clock didn't start and Middlesboro got up two shots to tie it.

You are 100% correct on the Cawood regional tournament loss. Having lived in Barbourville in 81 and 82, I asked a few of my Barbourville friends about the clock keeper. They assured me that the clock keeper would be the last person on Earth that would "intentionally" cheat anyone. The thing that sticks in my mind was during the timeout with 3 seconds to go in regulation a long-time Cawood fan was having some of the Cawood players pose for pictures. I was thinking 'let them get in the huddle and set up their defense."

Cawood had played a great game the night before, upsetting Cawood with numerous starters fouled out.

[E's Army]

Bobby Keith had a lot of people's number.

[rojas]

Cawood had played a great game the night before, upsetting Cawood with numerous starters fouled out.

That should have read "upsetting Clay County the night before."

[icecreamandcake]

Always a tournament atmosphere in the gym with Coach Keith and the Tigers playing Hicks and the Redhounds.

[HerrDueces]

Found this info in his bio after being inducted into Ky Basketball Hall of Fame. I thought it was interesting that Allan Houston was his Grandson

Coach William Kean

(Louisville Central, 1922-58)

Kean is considered a pioneer of desegregation of athletics in the Bluegrass. His teams won 856 games and lost just 83. Kean won five state championships in the Kentucky Basketball League and four national titles in the National ***** High School Tournament. Kean is the grandfather of Allan Houston.http://www.khsbhf.com/inductees.asp

Kean, William L. "Bill"
Birth Year : 1899
Death Year : 1958
While a student at Louisville Central High School, Kean was captain of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. The 5' 7" athlete weighed 140 pounds when he played football at Howard University, where he also earned letters in three other sports. He was one of the school's first 4-letter athletes and in 1922 was named to the ***** All-American Team as a quarterback. As a coach, he directed the Louisville Central football team to a 225-45-12 record. As the basketball coach, he led the Louisville Central Yellow Jackets to wins in 857 of its 940 games. Kean was the son of Alice E. and William T. Kean, and the maternal grandfather of NBA player Allen Houston, and a brother to Henry A. Kean, Sr. For more see The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. by J. E. Kleber.
Subjects: Athletes, Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Education and Educators, Football, Grandparents
Geographic Region: Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky

[ArJay]

Say what you want about Coach Hicks but numbers don't lie. And they play a fun style and are exciting to watch. I love seeing people from the mans be successful

[rojas]

Say what you want about Coach Hicks but numbers don't lie. And they play a fun style and are exciting to watch. I love seeing people from the mans be successful

I actually thought some of Billy's better coaching jobs were at Evarts, Harlan, the early Corbin years and the first two years at Scott County. When his teams were completely overmatched and no one gave his teams much of a chance of being successful was when they over achieved the most. Those teams generally over-compensated for their lack of talent with tremendous intensity and work ethic. The 82/83 Evarts team that HDE liked was a prime example.

[rojas]

Scott County 72- Oldham Co 52. 851. 5 more to tie.