Our state lost one of our more underrated basketball stars with the recent death of former Woodrow Wilson and West Liberty basketball star Shane Maynard. Maynard died on Aug. 4 in south Florida, where he was running a basketball academy.
Maynard led the Flying Eagles to a Class AAA state championship in 2004 and then went on to play for Jim Crutchfield at West Liberty. Crutchfield turned the Hilltoppers into an entertaining, high-scoring Division II nationally ranked program and the dominant program in the West Virginia Conference. Those close to the West Liberty program point to the recruitment of Maynard as the key recruit that elevated the Hilltoppers into a conference power. He was the WVC Freshman of the Year in 2005 and finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,221 points. It was no coincidence that championships seemed to follow Maynard. He did many things to help a team win.
As with Maynard, it is always stunning when a gifted athlete dies young. I fell in love with major league baseball in the early 1960s, and I remember being stunned and saddened when I picked up the newspaper and read that the 1962 National League Rookie of the Year, Ken Hubbs, had been killed in a plane crash. Hubbs was the second baseman for the Chicago Cubs and was only 24.
n In the spring of 1970, the city of Charleston lost an incredibly gifted young baseball player with the drowning death of Charleston High star Ralph Jean. The Mountain Lions were poised to make a run at a state championship that spring, but Jean's death just prior to the start of the sectional tournament was too much to overcome.
I remember seeing Jean play in Little League, Senior League and Big League for the Charleston Southern League based in Kanawha City. There were many future college athletes in that league, such as Butch Glover, Chuck Green, Kenny Shock, Whitey Ferrell, Steve Brown, Bucky Lowe, Steve Morton and others. However, Jean stood out above the rest. He carried himself like a pro even as a kid.
The upper part of the Kanawha Valley also knew the tragedy of losing outstanding young athletes. On Dec. 23, 1978, just two days before Christmas, the DuPont community lost multi-sport star Thad Snodgrass, who was killed by a drunk driver. The son of longtime coach and school administrator Joe Snodgrass, Thad had just played in the AAA state championship football game a few weeks before.
He was a multi-sport athlete with professional pitching potential in baseball. Personally, I think he might have been governor of our state someday.
Even though we lost him way too young, his life has continued to impact others. Every spring, the Thad Snodgrass Scholarship Fund continues to provide opportunities for youngsters in the Riverside school area to attend college. Over the years, almost 300 scholarships have been given out to youngsters in the upper Kanawha Valley. Thad Snodgrass's life has helped produce future doctors, lawyers, pastors, teachers, CEOs and others.
n The East Bank community suffered a great loss in the spring of 1971 when multi-sport athlete Minor Woods was killed in a car accident at the Chelyan Bridge.
Just a few weeks prior to the accident, Woods had played basketball for the Pioneers with teammates Lanny Steed, Lester Weems and Ron Calloway. Woods was a team leader in everything he played and was beloved in the East Bank community. Cabin Creek was flooded with people trying to attend his memorial service.
Contact Frank Giardina at flg16@hotmail.com.