It's basketball state tournament time in West Virginia, a sports version of a family reunion as fans from across the state gather to see old friends, swap stories and remember many of those who played before.
In that spirit of nostalgia, here are some thoughts on athletes and teams from our state that you may not know about.
n East Bank baseball: Many former Pioneers this week will visit and talk about Jerry West and his state title run in 1956, but some of the old baseball Pioneers also like to talk about their success in the 1950s. Many may not remember that for the decade of the '50s, East Bank was the dominant baseball program in the state.
The Pioneers won state championships in 1951, 1952, 1957 and 1960 and played in the state title game in 1950 and 1959. The 1960 team featured such stars as Larry Tincher, Vince Cole, Lloyd Atkins and Roy Kuhl. Kuhl won the Kanawha Valley batting title and signed professionally with the Cleveland Indians organization. The team was coached by Joe Butta and Buddy Kearns.
n Duke backcourt: Most fans know the starting backcourt for this year's Duke Blue Devils - Grayson Allen is one of the most polarizing players in the nation - but most in our state don't realize that the starting backcourt for Duke in the late 1950s was a pair of southern West Virginians: Howard Hurt of Beckley and Johnny Frye of Huntington East. Frye was also a great football player at East and won the 1956 Kennedy Award as the best player in the state.
n Ross Scaggs: This past week, in Class A basketball, you saw the St. Joseph girls play. Next week you will see the St. Joe boys. You may not realize that St. Joseph boys coach Scaggs was an incredible guard for legendary coach Willie Akers at Logan in the early 1970s. In 1974, he led Logan to the Class AAA state title game, where the Wildcats lost to a great Charleston High team led by Mike "Twig" Jones. Scaggs signed with WVU ,where he played with Bob Huggins. He then transferred to Marshall, making him one of the few players in state history to play for both the Mountaineers and Thundering Herd. Scaggs also played golf for Joe Feaganes at Marshall.
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Here are some folks that are no longer with us that I miss seeing at the tournament.
n Sam Andy: The former Wheeling High and Wheeling Park coach was a basketball giant in the northern part of the state. One of his finest coaching jobs may have been in 1976, when he and Bob Reddy led Wheeling to a AAA state title in the school's last game.
n Jerry Bradley: I loved the former Greenbrier East coach and miss him greatly. I am still upset with the Lord for taking him so young. I first met Jerry when I was doing the radio play-by-play at Marshall and he was a student. He came to Marshall from Marsh Fork High School and was as respected as any coach and athletic director in the state.
n Jennings Boyd: The legendary Northfork coach led the Blue Demons to a national-record eight consecutive boys state titles from 1974-81. Many forget that his team also won a Class AA state title in 1971 led by David McDaniel and Ronnie Spencer.
n Dan Hose: He was not a coach or a player. He was a sports writer and an incredibly kind and humble man. It was always fun to share a meal with him and writer Doug Huff at the state tournament.
n Don Nuckols: We lost the former Mullens coach just a few weeks ago and the tournament won't feel the same without him. He won multiple Class A and AA titles with the Rebels and coached such players as Herbie Brooks, Mike D'Antoni, Jerome Anderson, Greg White, Billy Mizell, Shawn Finney and Willie Stewart.
n Don Stover: The former Mullens and Stonewall Jackson coach was a larger-than-life figure at the tournament. He won three AAA state titles with the Generals in the 1980s and had some outstanding players, including Bobby Wesley, Robert Lee Sanders, Wayne Casey and Stewart Mitchell. He was from the small town of Pax near Oak Hill and played on a Pax team that won the 1954 Class B state title. As a joke, he often wore a fake media credential at the tournament that read The Pax Times.
n Martha Williams: Fans may not remember her name, but they might remember her. She was the "button lady from Logan" who sat near the Logan student section in the old Civic Center wearing dozens of Logan buttons. She was also a true supporter of southern coalfield basketball and occasionally wore buttons supporting the Williamson Wolfpack. She was a colorful piece of state tournament history and her picture often appeared in papers across the state.
Reach Frank Giardina at flg16@hotmail.com.