The fourth class of inductees into the Logan County Athletic Association Hall of Fame will be honored Friday between games of the Clash of the Cats at LCHS. Five outstanding individuals are taking their places along with other elite athletes and coaches from Logan County High School and five former high schools which became a part of it 36 years ago.
Tyrone Babb, LCHS Class of 1988: Tyrone is best remembered as the quarterback of the first winning football team at LCHS. He led Coach Steve Eans’ 1986 team to an 8-2 record, the best-ever for the Cougars until this year. He was also a defensive standout as a linebacker and defensive back and had several Power 5 conference teams interested in signing him before he made it clear he wanted to play college basketball, not football.
“If you can guarantee me that I will play in the NFL, I’ll play college football,” he told those urging him to play for Tennessee, which was one of the nation’s top program at the time. “Otherwise, I’m from Auburn and I’m supposed to play basketball.”
He was the most honored player on Hall of Fame Coach Barry Reed’s 1987 regional finalist basketball team. He was honorable mention All-State and was named all region and all district twice. He takes pride in being president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a Student Council member two years.
He played basketball four years for Arkansas Tech, and was named to the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference All-Freshmen team. He was twice named a Dopson Scholar.
Billy Taylor, LCHS Class of 2000: Billy was blessed with the rare ability to be both a highly accomplished distance runner and sprinter. He qualified for the state Cross Country Championships and ran a time of 18:04. In track, he won over 80 track and field medals and ribbons. He long jumped 22’3”, triple jumped 44’4.5”, ran the 200 meter dash in 22.32 seconds, the 100 meter dash in 10.87 seconds, and helped set the school record in the 400 meter relay.
He won the Class AAA 200-meter dash state championship in his senior year and was named the Kentucky State Track and Field Athlete of the Year for 2000.
After graduation, he served in the United States Navy.
His coach in both sports, Greg Howard, says, “Billy remains one of the greatest all-around athletes to walk the halls of Logan County High School and even better than that, one of the most genuine and humble men I’ve ever met.”
Greg Shelton, Lewisburg Class of 1971: A five-year letterman in baseball and three-year in basketball for Hall of Fame Coach Bob Birdwhistell and the Rangers, he led the 1971 team to one of the most thrilling 13th District basketball championships ever, ending Auburn’s 8-year stranglehold on the championship. Greg pitched four years for Western Kentucky University and was named to Coach Jim Pickens’ All-Time Hilltopper Team.
He was coach of Franklin-Simpson baseball for 29 years, winning the state championship in 1991 and reaching the Final Four in 1999. He was named state Coach of the Year both of those seasons and was inducted into the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 1997. The Franklin baseball field was renamed Greg Shelton Field in 2001.
After his retirement in Kentucky, he also coached baseball at Beech High School in Tennessee, winning two district and two regional championships there. He came back to Kentucky to coach the Russellville Panthers two years and Christian County two years. He is currently in his second season as head coach at South Ft. Myers High School in Florida.
Shelton also coached basketball at Franklin for 27 seasons, six of them as a head coach. His Wildcats won the 2002 district basketball championship in the Logan County gymnasium.
He has coached baseball 41 years, 40 of them as a head coach. He has won 14 district, 8 regional, two sectional, and one state championship. His overall coaching record in 1,417 games is 968 wins, 449 losses.
Kenneth Bunton, Auburn Class of 1979: Kenneth led Coach Larry Jordan’s 1977 Tigers to the regional championship game as a sophomore. He was all-district three years and all-regional once. He was named Fourth Region Player of the Year as a junior in 1978 and was named Player of the Decade in Russellville/Logan County for the 70’s.
He played four years of college basketball, two at Columbia Basin Community College and two at Central Washington University. He was named MVP of the Junior College State Tournament in 1981. He served as captain of his Central Washington team both years he was there. Bunton led his team in scoring and was named Conference MVP.
Kenneth Bunton has used his criminal justice major throughout his adult life. As a policeman, he was named the City of Russellville’s Employee of the Year in 1986. He is a juvenile services officer now and was inducted into the Administrative Office of the Court’s Juvenile Services Hall of Fame in 2011.
Tracie Mason-Blair, Logan County High Class of 1987: Although Tracie is probably best remembered for her brilliant basketball career at LCHS, her biggest high school honors came in track. She was a member of the 1984 state championship 400-meter relay team. Two years later, she finished second in the state in both the 200-meter and the long jump.
One of the Lady Cougars’ all-time leading scorers and rebounders in basketball, she was a leader of Coach Jim Thompson’s 1987 regional runner-up team.
She was an outstanding athlete at Austin Peay State University for five years in both basketball and track. She ranks in the top 10 all-time in the Lady Governors’ career statistics for points scored, steals, assists, blocked shots, and free throws made. She averaged 14.3 points per game for her career. She was All-OVC Freshman, Honorable Mention All-OVC overall, and team MVP.
Tracie has coached at Clarksville Northeast High School for 19 seasons, including the last 12 as head girls basketball coach and head boys cross country coach. She was head girls track coach three seasons before that. She’s twice been named district coach of the year in Class AAA.
Presenters of Hall of Fame plaques will be coaches Greg Howard, Bob Birdwhistell, Larry Jordan and Jim Thompson along with Hall of Famer Stacy Mason.