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(First row, L-R): Steve Gaydosh, Julie Sinclair, Lula Davis (representing Buddy Davis), Denise Ainsworth, Greg England. (Second Row, L-R): Jim Tuley, Larry Davidson, Mike Estes, Ben Harris, Joe Evans, Jim Hunter Jr., Raymond White. (Photo by Jay Sailors)
High School Hall Of Fame Inducts 12 As Class of 2013
Twelve major contributors to prep athletics in Alabama were inducted into the 23nd class of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame Monday night.
The 2013 class was honored at a banquet at the Renaissance Hotel at the Convention Center in Montgomery. The induction class includes coaches, administrators, a contest official and an “old-timer” and raised total number of individuals enshrined since 1991 to 285.
The Class of 2013 included volleyball coaches Denise Ainsworth and Julie Sinclair, football coaches Ben Harris and Buddy Davis, basketball coaches Larry Davidson, Jim Hunter, Jr., and Raymond White, baseball coach Mike Estes, wrestling coach Steve Gaydosh, administrator Jim Tuley, former AHSAA Associate Executive Director Joe Evans and long-time basketball official Greg England.
Ainsworth, currently an Assistant Director at the AHSAA, was a successful softball and volleyball coach at Alabama Christian who also served the Montgomery school as athletic director. Sinclair has 1,115 career volleyball wins at Montgomery Academy.
Harris led Blount to four state Class 5A football championships in a 10-year span in the 1990s. Davis, selected in the “Old-Timer” category, guided Booker T. Washington of Montgomery to three unbeaten regular seasons and then joined the Jeff Davis staff when BTW was closed, helping the Vols post an undefeated season. He is now deceased.
Davidson won 415 games as a head coach, first at Walter Wellborn and later at Oxford, and was an assistant coach on three Oxford state football championship teams. He now serves OHS as athletic director. Hunter, head basketball coach and athletic director at Calhoun, has 398 basketball wins and two state titles. White, with 731 career wins, has led Barbour County to three state titles and two runner-up finishes in nine Final 48 appearances, including a 34-0 season in 2012.
Gaydosh has coached Vestavia Hills to 12 Class 6A state wrestling titles. Tuley served as a successful assistant football coach and golf coach at Robert E. Lee before helping Trinity Presbyterian win 18 state titles in a variety of sports after becoming the Montgomery school’s athletic director. He is now retired.
Estes guided Hokes Bluff to 606 baseball wins and nine state titles before retiring after the 2008 season. Evans was a successful high school basketball coach at Keith High School and then served for almost two decades as an assistant coach at UAB with coach Gene Bartow. He served as AHSAA Associate Executive Director from 2000-2011.
England officiated high school basketball for 42 years and worked in 25 Final 48 state tournaments. He now serves as a camp instructor and official observer.
Sinclair, who is also the associate athletic director at Montgomery Academy, delivered the acceptance address for the Class of 2013.
An 18-member Hall of Fame Committee made the selections from 46 nominations on the Hall of Fame ballot. The Hall of Fame is located at the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) office in Montgomery.
Sponsors of the Hall of Fame program are the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association (AHSADCA) and the AHSAA. The corporate sponsors are Cadence Bank, Coca-Cola, Encore Rehabilitation, Farmers Insurance, Russell Athletic, TeamIP and Wilson Sporting Goods.