By DOUG EADS, CJ Correspondent
By DOUG EADS
CJ Correspondent
The 12th Region Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame keeps growing and growing, and that’s a good thing, as former greats from the past are honored and inducted into the ‘Hall’ each year for their accomplishments, both on and off the basketball court.
A total of 24 individuals, which included former players, along with former and current coaches and contributors, were introduced earlier this week as the 2010 inductees into the 12th Region Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
The 2010 Player Inductees were as follows:
Robert Jones — Pine Knot/McCreary Central — From 1976-1979, Jones tallied 1,706 points and pulled down 903 rebounds over those three seasons.
He was a two-time All-District and 12th Regional All-Tournament Team member, as was a two-time All State Honorable Mention selection.
Jones played his college basketball at Sue Bennett College.
Kay Morris — Monticello — Morris scored 908 career points while playing for the Trojans, which included scoring 521 points during the 1960 season, when Monticello finished as state runner-up. Morris led the Trojans to three state tourney appearances in 1958, ‘59, and ‘60.
Jimmy John Owens — Wayne County — Owens scored over 1,500 points during his career with the Cards, while pulling down over 600 rebounds.
He was a two-time All-District and All-Region selection, and was a member of the 1980 All-State Tournament Team. In ‘89, Owens helped Wayne County go all the way to the Sweet 16 finals, as the Cards finished as state runner-up.
Charles Elza — Hazel Green — Elza was a member of state tournament teams as a sophomore and junior, and averaged 15.4 points and 14 rebounds per game as a senior.
The Bullfrogs won over 100 games during his prep career, and had winning streaks of 17 games and 14 games during that time frame.
Elza received a scholarship and played at Eastern Kentucky University, where he played four years for coach Guy Strong.
“Kentucky Colonel” Garner Stephens — Pine Knot — Stephens averaged 15 points per game as a sophomore, 19 points per game as a junior, and 21.2 points per contest as a senior.
He recorded over 1,400 rebounds during those three years, and in his senior season, the Dragons won their first 17 games to begin the year.
Paul Elza — Hazel Green — Elza averaged 28 points per game in 1962 and 26 points per game in 1963.
He was an All-District selection in ‘61, ‘62, and ‘63, while making the All-Region squad in 1962 and again in ‘63.
In 1963, he scored 41 points in a game, which was one point shy from the school record at Hazel Green.
Elza earned a basketball scholarship to Cumberland College.
Dale Cain Phelps — Somerset — Phelps was a three-year starter at Science Hill before going to Somerset in 1953.
He accumulated over 1,000 points in his final two seasons with the Briar Jumpers.
Phelps was named to the Courier Journal’s All-State Team as a senior in 1955.
He earned a scholarship at Tennessee Tech University.
Duane Dunagan — Monticello — Dunagan led the Trojans to the state tournament in both 1973 and ‘74.
He was a three-year starter at Monticello, scoring 1,703 point during his career, which ranks him third all-time on the Trojans scoring list.
He was an All-District selection two years and an All-Region honoree one time.
He earned a scholarship to Campbellsville College where he set a record for career points.
J.B. Phelps — London — Phelps was the starting center on the 1948 London High School team that won a regional title, before finishing as state runner-up to Millersburg Military Institute.
He was a member of the Kentucky All-Stars that played against the Indiana All Stars at the end of the 1948 season — a Kentucky All-Star team that was coached by Western Kentucky University’s E.A. Diddle.
Phelps earned a scholarship to Wake Forest University.
Elam Stokes — Monticello — Stokes led the Trojans in scoring in both his junior and senior seasons, scoring over 900 points during his career.
He was an All-District selection in both 1948 and ‘49, and was a member of the Kentucky All Star Team.
He played his collegiate basketball at the University of Florida.
The 2010 Coaches Inductees are as follows:
Rodney Woods — Wayne County — He is the Dean of 12th Region coaches, as he just concluded his 24th season as the head coach for the Cardinals.
Woods has amassed 692 victories as a head coach at the high school level, with 485 of those coming at Wayne County.
Woods has led the Cardinals to six 12th Regional Tournament championships and a state runner-up finish in 1989.
He was the 2002 Kentucky Statewide Coach of the Year, and he is in the KHSAA Dawahare’s Hall of Fame as a player inductee.
Ralph Roberts — McCreary Co./McCreary Central — Roberts won over 600 games in 30 years at the high school level.
He led McCreary County to the 12th Regional championship and the Boy’s Sweet 16 State Tournament in 1976, while coaching Tim Stephens.
Stephens led the state in scoring that year, averaging 35.6 points per game.
David “Stick” Cottrell — Danville — Cottrell led the Admirals to two 12th Regional championships, in 1968 and again in 1973.
Harold Storm — Lily — Storm led Lily High School to a regional title in 1961, while finishing as regional runner-up in 1962 and 1966.
He had a career winning percentage of .755 in his 13 years as Lily’s head coach, with an overall record of 253 wins against only 82 losses.
Oscar Fitzgerald — Burnside/Somerset — Fitzgerald played at Burnside High School, before playing at Lindsey Wilson College and later at Middle Tennessee State.
He returned home to coach the Generals from 1959-’72, where they won their first district tournament title in 1968.
He went on to coach at Central Junior High School and Somerset from 1972-1982.
Rice Mountjoy — Danville — He led the Admirals to the 12th Regional championship a total of seven times, including a state runner-up finish in 1934.
The 2010 Contributor Inductees were as follows:
Paul Smiley — KSD — Smiley worked at KSD a total of 28 years as Athletic Director, where he hosted several Mason-Dixon Conference Tournaments.
Smiley founded the Mason-Dixon Football Conference and Track and Field Conference, as well as the Bluegrass Conference.
He won Coach of the Year in track in 1974, and was Coach of the Year in Football in 1984.
He was Coach of the Year in the Pioneer Athletic Football Conference in 1985, and was Coach of the Year in the Bluegrass Basketball Conference in 1993 and ‘94.
He was also the Football Coach of the Year in the Mason Dixon Conference in 2002.
Smiley was a finalist for the Athletic Director of the Year in 1997 and 2004.
David and Kathy Ross — McCreary Central — They have been supporters of the McCreary Central program for 20 years, and have been the financial supporter for the Arby’s/KFC Basketball Classic for 10 years.
Larry Vaught — Boyle County/Danville — Vaught has worked at the Danville Advocate since 1975.
He was named as the Kentucky Sportswriter of the year on five occasions.
He was President of the Kentucky AP Sports Editors Association from 1984-’91, and is currently third Vice President of the National Associated Press Sports Editors Association.
He worked as a columnist for the Cats Pause from 1976-2004, and was inducted into the Danville Schools Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009, and was named a Danville High School Distinguished Alumni in 2009.
Barry Daulton — Pulaski County — He was a stat keeper for the Maroons, from 1998-2005.
He has been a financial supporter since 1984 for Pulaski County High School, and a financial supporter of Southwestern High School since 1993.
Dr. Charles Peck — Russell County — Dr. Peck was the Lakers team physician for over 30 years.
Dr. Rick Miles — Russell County — Dr. Miles served as the Lakers team physician for over 20 years.
Montie and Rosco Upchurch — Monticello — Montie and Roscoe Upchurch began following basketball during the early 1940’s.
Through the years, Montie washed uniforms, housed and fed players and anything else she could do to help.
Roscoe and Montie had five boys, Jack, John, David, Wade, and Mark, three grandsons, Shane, Trevis, and Zeb, three granddaughters, Steasha, Haley, and Jessica, and one great grandson son, Dagan, that all have played basketball in the 12th Region for various schools.
Four of their sons as well as one grandson have worked or are working today as head basketball coaches of a 12th Region school.
One Granddaughter, Jessica, just finished an outstanding prep career at Lincoln County High School, and one grandson, Dagan Shelton, is a member of the Wayne County Cardinal basketball team.
Montie and Roscoe Upchurch began their “basketball journey” together, and now once again, they are together watching from that great “skybox” above.
There were also four former 12th Region basketball teams that were inducted into the 2010 Class of the 12th Regional Hall of Fame.
All four brought home state championships.
The four teams inducted were as follows:
1940 Hazel Green Bullfrogs
1982 Laurel County Cardinals
1986 Pulaski County Maroons
2005 South Laurel Cardinals
Congratulations to all of the above for their contributions in making 12th Region Basketball as good as it is today.
