The selection of Lonnie Mason as Logan County High School boys basketball coach completed a remarkable two-pronged piece of history this summer. Consider
this:
1) Every head boys coach in the 13th District is coaching his alma mater.
2) Every head boys coach in the 13th District is African American.
The African American part is especially unique. Until the fall of 2010, with the exception of Knob City, Franklin Lincoln and other segregated and now
defunct high schools, only two black men had served as head basketball coaches in this four-school district. They were Matt Tipton, who was the original
coach of the Russellville Lady Panthers, and Phil Todd, who had a great run as the Panther coach from 1991-2004. Then two years ago, Todd Central hired
young alum Calvin Head (Class of '06) to direct the Rebels' program. Now in his third season as the Todd bench boss, Head is both the youngest and the
longest-serving current13th District boys coach.
Since the 2012 season, Phil Todd has returned as the coach of the Panthers while Mason was named coach of the Cougars and Dee Spencer of Franklin-Simpson.
Russellville has three African American head coaches. Tipton is beginning his 39th season as the Lady Panther girls track coach, which may be
the longest tenure of any coach in any sport in the state. Dennis Sydnor, who helped the Panthers win a state Class A track championship in 1975, is the
boys track coach. Terricka Quarles, one of the program's first stars, is the volleyball coach.
Todd, Quarles and Sydnor all are RHS alumni. So are boys and girls golf coach/athletic director Nathan Thompson, girls and boys tennis coach Sandra
Eggleston Brown, and softball coach Greg Meacham.
LCHS has three alumni serving as head coaches. They are Mason, Ethan Meguiar in baseball and boys and girls golf, and Steven Lyne in volleyball.
Mason, however, is in rarified air as an African American head coach, not only at LCHS but also in the entire Logan County system, present or past. The
only other possibility I can think of is Dennis Custard, who may have been head track coach at LCHS in the late 90s.
Six of the eight head basketball coaches in the 13th District are graduates of schools in the district, three of them from Logan. Add to the
boys coaches Dedra Adler at RHS and Josh Matthews at Franklin. They both are LCHS alumni. The two girls coaches who aren't homegrown are Scot MacAllister
at LCHS and Steve Phillips at Todd Central.
All of this raised questions (at least in my sports trivia-based mind) of how many other graduates of RHS and Logan schools became head basketball coaches
at their alma mater. So from my own memory bank and from the book Basketball County, which I wrote 35 years ago, plus with help of friends, I came
up with the following list:
Head Coaches at Alma Mater
Adairville: Boys—Ralph Sharp, Bill Davis; Girls—Susan Price
Auburn: Boys—Larry Jordan, Barry Reed
Lewisburg: Boys—Earle Shelton; Girls—John Paul Brady
Olmstead: Boys—Mack Monroe, Robert Piper
Russellville: Boys—B.H. Weaver, Wayne Mullen, Phil Todd (twice)
Logan County: Boys—Lonnie Mason
Head Coaches at Other District Schools
From Adairville: Boys—Jim Young at Lewisburg and Russellville; Jim Thompson at Chandlers; Girls— Jim Thompson at Chandlers
From Auburn: Boys—Butch Garrett at Chandlers, Van Washer at Lewisburg, John McCarley at Russellville, Mickey Meguiar at Russellville (twice), Barry Reed at Logan County, Dennis Pardue at Todd Central and
Russellville
From Lewisburg: Boys—Earle Shelton at Olmstead, R.B. 'Bunny' Porter at Chandlers; Gordon Pogue at
Chandlers, Jimmy Milam at Olmstead, Gary Shelton at Olmstead, Greg Shelton at Franklin-Simpson; Girls— Gary Shelton at Olmstead, Denny Milam at Olmstead
From Russellville: Girls—Lugene Rogers at Olmstead
From Logan County: Girls—D.K. Basham Adler at Russellville, Josh Matthews at Franklin-Simpson
Head Coaches at Out-of-District Schools
Auburn: Boys—Henry McCarley at Caneyville
Chandlers: Boys—Robert Cox in Virginia; Girls—James Powell at Somerset
Lewisburg: Boys—Jimmy Milam at Hughes-Kirk, Gary Shelton at Allen County-Scottsville, Barry Silvey at
Hughes-Kirk; Ricky Smith at Providence; Girls—Mike Brady at Bremen
Olmstead: Boys—Buck Sydnor at Daviess County; Mark White at Central Hardin; Girls—J. Marion Stratton at
Oneida Institute; Todd Steward at Warren Central
Russellville: Boys—B.H. Weaver at Caverna; Ray Vencill Jr. at Elizabethtown, Steve Gilliam at Webster
County, Nelson Cundiff at West Jessamine; Girls—Nelson Cundiff at Nelson County
Logan County: Girls—Tracy Mason at Clarksville Academy and Clarksville Northeast
No doubt, there are others. Please let The LoJo know who we left out. Remember, we are looking for head basketball coaches in high school.
Thanks to many people who contributed to this article, including Bob Birdwhistell, David Billingsley, Gerald Hildabrand, Bryson Price, Denny Milam, Jane
Wells, Tony Stokes, Alan Marksberry, Carolyn Zimmerman, Allison Coleman, Diane Walker, Gary Conlee, Nell McCarley Jordan, Steve McCarley, Steve Thompson,
Vicki Costello, Barry Silvey, Tony Chick, Pernell Dennison and Riley Holliday.
