| ||||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
JIm Richards inducted into WKU Athletic Hall of Fame The Good Lord simply looks after some of us in life. - JIM RICHARDS Several photos follow this article. Also, More photos at Jim & Annette's site By Ed Waggener ed@columbiamagazine.com Garlin, Adair County, KY's Jim Richards was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in the Hall of Champions at Western Kentucky University at a brunch on Saturday morning, October 15, 2005. When he received the honor as a coach, he was the second Western Kentucky University Head Coach from Adair County to join the elite circle. Gradyville, Adair County, Kentucky's E.A. Diddle was the first member of the WKU Athletic Hall of Fame. Mr. Richards became one of 100 WKU players and coaches ever to be so honored. As a member of the 2005 inductees, he joins only 9 others honored as coaches. An eleventh coach with Adair County relatives, Campbellsville's Clem Haskins, is also a WKU Athletic Hall of Famer, who was honored as a player, before becoming WKU head basketball coach. In receiving the honor, he was recognized as a coach in both basketball and golf. In accepting the honor, Mr. Richards used as a theme, "The Good Lord simply looks after some of us in life." Coach John Burr expanded the team roster He told about growing up in Adair County, at Garlin, on Burton Ridge, "between Russell Creek and Green River," and about getting cut from the basketball squad in his junior year at Adair County High School because the squad only had 10 uniforms."But I got to go to all the games as scorekeeper for Coach John Burr," he said. "I didn't give up," he said, and tried out again the next year. "Coach gave out 12 uniforms for the first time ever, so I got one." "The Good Lord simply looks after some of us in life," he said.Not giving up and adhering to a work ethic came as principles instilled by his mother and father, the late Mary and Demaree Richards, he said. "Mom and Dad taught us the importance of daily work ethic and Dad was particularly influential in teaching Brother Jody and myself the value of being competitive in anything you do in life." He had not particularly planned a career in athletics when he came to Western, he said. At first he planned to become a dentist. "Western had the best pre-dental curriculum and more people were into dental school from Western than any other college in the state. Mom had researched that, and knew the statistics," he said. But he and the Smith twins, Cane Valley, Adair County, KY's Willard and Wayne, were recruited by fellow Adair Countian, Coach Ed Diddle, to play baseball, a game Richards dearly loved. But there were no baseball scholarships for baseball in those days, he said. "You three Smith twins, come over here!" Richards told about walking with the Smiths up State Street from Normal Drive "Mr. Diddle was sitting on the front porch and spotted us," Mr. Richards said, "He yelled, 'Hey! You three Smith twins! Come over here!" They didn't know what to expect, he said, but Mr. Diddle offered them rooms in the players' dorm. "By living in the basketball house across the hall from Ronnie Clark, a wonderful friendship was developed. Mr. Diddle helped me get started in officiating high school basketball, which gave me an in-depth understanding of the sport. Ronnie Clark became Principal at Auburn High School and gave me my first coaching job, head coach," he remembers. He had a winning tenure at Auburn, he said, "But with prodding from President Dero Downing, I went to Glasgow High School where there were more and better athletics, and we won the State Basketball Championship in 1968." "The Good Lord simply looks after some of us in life," he said again. Richards told of other big breaks in his career Richards gave two other WKU coaches thanks for advancing his career. "I shall be eternally grateful that Gene Rhodes left Western as assistant coach to go to Louisville to become head coach of the Colonels in the ABA. Also, I thank WKU Head Coach John Oldham for giving me the opportunity to become his assistant coach. It was the start of a 17 year working relationship without one cross word between us. he gave me an opportunity to recruit and coach on the collegiate level, giving me more freedom than I ever deserved. We had a fabulous team, finishing 3rd in the NCAA Tourney in 1971." "The Good Lord simply looks after some of us in life," he repeated. "My last season as head coach we beat Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament to go to the Final 16. The Syracuse Head Coach was Jim Beheim . . . and his first assistant was a fellow named Rick Pitino . We lost in Round One of the Final 16 to . . . Magic Johnson." Gave special thanks to others who helped in career He gave special thanks to many others who helped in his basketball career. "I want to thank President Downing for having faith in me to hire me as the head coach after John Oldham retired. I'd like to thank all those wonderful assistant coaches, Bobby Rasco, Clem Haskins, and Ralph Baker, and Benny Dees, Art Tollis and Lanny van Eman for all the hard work and effort they put into the program and the loyalty they showed. Also, the team doctors, Drs. Jerry Martin and Carroll Brooks, and Head Trainer Russ Miller, the graduate assistants, managers, secretary Ann Handy and all the many players that made basketball such a great part of my life." Number One recruit was Kenny Perry After his basketball coaching tenure was over, Richards became Coach of the Men's Gold Team. "My first recruit was Kenny Perry. What a great team we had," he said, "winning 13 of 16 college tourneys when Kenny Perry, Sr, Mike Newton, Scot beard, Phil Hatchett, Rick Huddelson, Scott Ray, and others made for a wonderful eight years with that program."Special recognition for wife, Annette Richards thanked and recognized his wife, the former Annette Waggener of Columbia. "Thanks to my wife Annette and family for putting up with me during the Good Times and the Not So Good . . . Annette kept shot charts and drove the wheels off that old station wagon getting Mary Frances Davenport, Carol Miler, Yvette Haskins , Janice van Eman, and all the coaches' kids to every game possible. He recognized other members of his family, which included son Steveand his wife Cindy and their children, Curtis, Casey, and Audrey LeeAnn; his daughter Missy Renfro and her husband Keith and their son Tyler; his brother, Jody Richards and his wife Neva; and members of his Jim Richards' wife's family, Jean Cravens, Fay McKinley, L.G. McKinley, Ed and Linda Waggener, and Ralph and Glinda Waggener. Several tables had been reserved for Richards family and friends. In addition to Jim Richards, football greats Jeff Cesarone and Porter Williams, and basketball greats Wayne Chapman and Charlie Osborne, were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame. Postscript: When Butch Gilbert made an announcement after Jim Richards spoke, he reminded Jim that he forgot to name his assistant coaches in Glasgow - Butch Gilbert and Sam Clark. Jim coached the grade football for the football staff and the football coaches reciprocated with 7th & 8th basketball. Butch and Sam also sat on the basketball bench at the state tourney -- the best seat in the house!! - Annette Richards This story was posted on 2005-10-16 17:58:18
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.
More articles from topic News:
ACHS Marching Band qualifies for state semi-finals Ten-foot statue of Ed Diddle to be unveiled November 19, 2005 Roadside cleanup continued on Saturday, with West 900 completed Whatever happened to Adair County's courthouse slayer, Ronald Webb? Hottest stories for comments: Rezoning, School Tax Issue Website maps the fall color trail through Kentucky's hills and hollows Paul Turner to turn in school building tax recall petiition (and followup story) State Highway Commissioner to bring Adair leaders up-to-date on road projects REMINDER: 2nd Annual Breeding Community Families Reunion is October 15, 2005 Adair Sheriff's department investigates two auto crashes resulting in injuries View even more articles in topic News |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||||
