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9 Inducted Into High School Sports Hall Of Fame
Nine major contributors to prep athletics in Alabama were inducted as the 20th class of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame Monday night at the Renaissance Hotel at the Convention Center in Montgomery.
Entering the Hall were George Baker, John Esslinger, Woodie Jackson, Dr. Larry Lemak, Jamie Riggs, Steve Savarese, June Seals, Gene Taylor and Ron Watters.
The 16-member Hall of Fame Committee made the selections from the 64 nominations on the Hall of Fame ballot.
Sponsors of the Hall of Fame program are the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association and the AHSAA. The corporate sponsors are al.com, Alfa Insurance, Coca-Cola, Encore Rehabilitation, Edmondson Screen Printing, Regions, Russell and Wilson.
Steve Savarese, former coach and current Executive Director of the AHSAA, spoke on behalf of the Class of 2010 and thanked the families, the players, the administrators and assistant coaches who supported them along the way.
Jeff Shearer, the sports director at WSFA-TV in Montgomery, took over as emcee replacing Phil Snow, who stepped down a year ago after serving 19 years as master of ceremonies.
The AHSAA also unveiled its renovated and expanded Hall of Fame housed in the front area of the AHSAA State Office building in Montgomery. Memorabilia of past and newest inductees plus historical items are now part of the permanent displays honoring all 20 classes.
A thumbnail sketch of each 2010 inductee:
GEORGE BAKER — The Gadsden native graduated from Carver High School in 1958, became an outstanding multi-sport athlete at Alabama State University and then returned home to coach high school basketball in his hometown from 1962-2001 (39 years). He became head track coach at Emma Sansom in 1971 and then took over the boys basketball program in 1972 where he remained until his retirement after the 2001 season.
At 6-foot-5, he earned the nickname “Big Bake” on what became one of the best high school football teams (Carver-Gadsden) in AIAA state history in 1957. He went on to letter in four sports at ASU (football, basketball, track and swimming).
He was instrumental in helping guide Gadsden City Schools through the early years of integration as the first black head coach in the system. His basketball teams won 502 games with undefeated regular seasons in 1977, 1979 and 1981. His 1992 team went 28-1 and won the Class 5A state championship. Thirty-seven of his former players signed college scholarships and seven played at the Division I-A level. He was inducted into the Etowah County Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. The City of Gadsden declared Feb. 20, 2001, as Coach George E. Baker Day.
John Esslinger — As Scottsboro High School’s legendary track and cross country coach, Esslinger has led the Wildcats to more than 40 state championships, including the 2009 Class 5A girls state cross country title. He has been named Coach of the Year numerous times and has also been named Jackson County Citizen of the Year (1999).
He served as assistant track and football coach at Scottsboro from 1972-1980 and as head track and cross country coach for the boys and girls since 1986. His cross country teams have 25 state crowns, including the last nine in a row in Class 5A girls competition. The track teams have captured 16 state championships.
His teams also had numerous runner-up and third-place finishes as well. Three times he guided the Wildcats’ track program to the triple crown – state titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track during the same school year.
In 2000, he was chosen Section 3 Track Coach of the Year by the NFHS. A popular member of the Scottsboro faculty, the cross country course on the grounds of Scottsboro High School is named the John R. Esslinger Course of Champions in his honor.
Woodie Jackson — One of the most successful high school basketball coaches in the nation, Jackson guided Francis Marion to a then state-record four state championships in a row (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991) and five overall, the last one in 2000. He also guided Westside High School to the state championship in 1978. His six state titles overall have come in three different classifications (1A, 2A and 3A).
His coaching career has spanned 32 years with stops at Westside, East Perry, Francis Marion and currently Selma High School. He also spent three years as head coach at Dillard University. Jackson compiled a 640-280 career coaching record including 23-8 and a Central Regional runner-up finish in 2010..
The recipient of numerous coach-of-the-year honors, he coached in the first Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic in 1991 and again in 2000. He coached in the prestigious McDonald’s High School All-America Classic (2008). He is a graduate of Choctaw High School (1971) and Talladega College.
Dr. larry Lemak — The world renowned orthopaedic surgeon has been a major contributor to the well being of high school student-athletes in Alabama, thanks to his role as chairman of the AHSAA Medical Advisory Board where he has been a member since 1985.
He is the founder of Lemak Sports Medicine where he pioneered the high school certified athletic trainer program that has served more than 30 schools for the last 20 years at no cost to the schools. As one of the founders and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), he has played an integral role in sports medicine arthroscopy research. His active role in sports medicine at the professional, collegiate, and high school levels led him to develop and serve as Chairman for the National Center for Sports Safety.
An active member of several national orthopaedic and sports medicine associations, Lemak currently serves as Team Director for Auburn University, Samford University, Birmingham-Southern College, and the Medical Director for Major League Soccer (MLS) and NFL Europe. He has been on the sidelines working with high school teams since 1985.
The founder and chairman of the Alabama Sports Foundation, he is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Virginia. He graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical School and completed an Orthopaedic Surgical residency at the University of Pittsburgh. He was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1977.
JAMIE RIGGS — One of the state’s most successful high school football coaches, Riggs has been head coach and athletic director at T.R. Miller High School in Brewton since 1989. During that span the Tigers have won four state championships (1991, 1994, 2000, 2002) and finished runner-up another four times (1990, 1995, 1996, 1998).
T.R. Miller has reached the state playoff semifinals 14 times in his 20-year tenure and won 117 games during the 1990s, best of any high school in the AHSAA. His team won 27 games in a row in 1994-95 and went 10-2 in 2009.
Named state Coach of the Year three times (1990, 2000, 2002), he served as assistant coach in the Alabama-Mississippi Classic in 1992 and head coach in 1995.
Currently president of the Alabama Football Coaches Association, the T.R. Miller graduate has an overall head coaching record of 247-64-0 with 235 wins coming at his alma mater. He spent three years as head coach at Opp. He has served on the First District Athletic Board since 1997.
STEVE SAVARESE —Savarese has been a coach, teacher, athletic director and administrator in high school athletics for 36 years. Selected just the fourth full-time executive director of the AHSAA in 2007, he has introduced a revenue-sharing plan with member schools and initiated the involvement of more than 175,000 students, coaches, game officials and parents in the STAR Sportsmanship program.
He has helped put the AHSAA’s championship events on solid ground with strong financial commitments from site hosts and strong TV and radio contracts, and also upgraded its website with up-to-date state-of-the-art technology.
As an administrator and head football coach for more than three decades, he has been committed to educational-based athletics with the positive experience for the children and dedication to sportsmanship at the fore front. He compiled a 281-98 record as a head football coach and won state championships in two states – Kansas and Alabama.
He coached at four schools in Alabama and was voted “Outstanding Teacher” at each one. He was selected an NFL High School Coach of the Year finalist in 1996-97 and is a member of the Baldwin County Sports and Southwestern (Kansas) College halls of fame.
JUNE SEALS — A pioneer in Alabama girls high school athletics, Seals has coached high school girls basketball for 30 years with an overall record of 701-148. She coached Sparkman to the Northwest Regional 6A finals this season and a 24-9 record. The Winfield High School graduate began her coaching career at Clarke County High School in 1976 and guided the girls program to nine state outdoor track titles. Her teams won six straight championships from 1986-91. Seals’ 1989 team won 13 of 16 state events to set a new state scoring record with 200 points.
She also directed Clarke County to three indoor state championships plus seven indoor and outdoor runner-up finishes. Her 1991 basketball team also won the state championship.
From 1993-1998 Seals was head girls basketball coach at Bob Jones, and since 2001 she has guided the Sparkman girls to three Class 6A state championships (2002, 2003, 2007) -- giving her 16 overall state track and basketball championships in her career. Her teams compiled a 50-game basketball winning streak during one stretch while at Sparkman. She has been named state coach of the year.
While her on-the-court coaching has won her the admiration of her peers, her attitude and tenacity of her recent off-the-court battle with cancer has touched thousands of players, coaches and others alike.
RUSSELL “GENE” TAYLOR — The Rockdale County, Ga., native made his mark on a state and national scale as head wrestling coach at Weaver High School from 1989-2004. During that span the Bearcats won nine AHSAA state wrestling titles, finished second three times and were third once. His teams won 12 Calhoun County wrestling championships and recorded 92 overall team tournament championships.
Fifty-five of his grapplers won state titles, including his son in 2009. Eight earned All-America honors, two were named Academic All-American and one became the state’s first six-time prep champion. His program won 221 straight dual matches from 1991-1999, best in state history in any sport and second longest wrestling win streak in the nation. His teams had another 111-dual match streak which ranks eighth all time.
Taylor was named state coach of the year nine times, was USA Wrestling Man of the Year in Alabama twice (1996, 2004) and District 3 Coach of the year once (1996).
He was 501-34 as a wrestling coach with six consecutive undefeated seasons and 201-130 as a head baseball coach. He earned Calhoun County Coach of the Year honors for baseball in 1996.
RON WATTERS — The Sylacauga native served as head football coach at Randolph County High School in Wedowee for 22 years where he compiled a 152-96-0 record as the winningest head coach in school history. His teams reached the state finals three times (1979, 1984, 1998) and advanced to the state playoffs 12 times with a 17-12 post-season record.
His teams at Randolph County also won five region championships and six area titles. Six of his former players and assistant coaches became head coaches.
He also coached the Tigers basketball team for 11 years with 173 wins, five country titles, three area championships and one region title. Five of his former players became head basketball coaches and one reached the NFL.
Watters, who coached in the North-South All-Star Game in 1998, is currently serving as an assistant coach at Handley High School.