If you would like to contribute information for the MIAA History page, please contact Larry Rea at Dowdle Sports, 751-1198.

By Larry Rea

Where do you start in recapping the history of the Memphis Interscholastic Athletic Association? So many memories. Memories of great players and great coaches. Memories of state championships won . . . and lost.

Memories of record-breaking games and mind-boggling individual performances. Too many memories to adequately cover what has become one of the nation’s premier high school athletic associations. But, we’ll try. If it’s statistics you’re looking for, we’ve got ‘em. Lots and lots of them, especially in basketball where the MIAA’s reputation as a basketball hotbed has gained national notoriety.

Who could ever forget Ronnie Schmitz of Ridgeway, who during the 1988-89 basketball season averaged remarkable 43 points per game, including 60 in one game?

And he isn’t even in the Top 10 in career scoring leaders in the MIAA. In fact, since the MIAA’s birth two players have topped the 3,000-point mark -- Rod Watson of Westside (3,418 in 1981-85) and Penny Hardaway of Treadwell (3,039 in 1986-90) -- and 13 others have scored more than 2,000. Watson and Hardaway rank among the state’s top 12 career scoring leaders.

And how about Mary Boatwright’s basketball career at Carver? All she did was lead the state in scoring three straight years, averaging 41.5, 40.7 and 39.1 on her way to a 3,395 career points, No 1 on the MIAA’s all-time list.

What about football, you ask? No problem. From Tony Harrington’s 87-yard punt for Raleigh-Egypt in 1995 to Latefly Jones of Hamilton’s 26 career interceptions (1988-90) to Sean Artis of South Side’s eight rushing touchdowns in a game in 1986 to Jermaine Quinn of Northside’s 50 rushing attempts in a game in 1996 to Kenton Evans of Westside’s 33 completions for 597 yards against South Side in 1994, there has been no shortage of Friday night football heroes in the MIAA.

We’re talking about an organization that has produced hundreds and hundreds of athletic superstars, including such players as Hamilton’s Keith Simpson and Manassas’ Ernest Gray who went on to star in the National Football League. In fact, 14 former MIAA players signed NFL contracts for the 2001 season, while Arena or Arena2 teams signed another 10.

According to stats guru Keith Gentry, from 1968 through 1999, 40 former MIAA players were drafted by the National Basketball Association, including an amazing six in 1986. With so many great players, it’s no wonder we’ve had some great teams . . . and great coaches. Not to mention, great fans.

People like “High School” Henry, who blew his plastic horn for years in support of his beloved Central High Warriors, and John Guinozzo, who has taken literally thousands of photographs as the co-founder of The Commercial Appeal’s Best of the Preps Awards Program. Granted, we’re probably going to leave out some events or accomplishments that should be included in this look back at the MIAA. Forgive us, but at least we tried to reach out to as many people as possible. Letters were sent out and countless phone calls were made to gather as much information as possible.

As we reflex on the MIAA and all of its heroes, we’d like to thank those coaches and former players who took time to give us there “best” MIAA memories, or as we like to call them, “MIAA Classic Moments.” Most were hand-written, including one from a coach who closed his letter with, “I’d write more but my hand is tired.”

We’ll sprinkle these “MIAA Classic Moments” throughout this look back at the MIAA, which was born in the mid-1960s with the merger of the old Memphis Prep League and Negro League.

Along the way we’ll reflex on an organization that from 1967 through 2001 has won five state football championships, 25 boys and 2 girls state basketball titles and three state baseball championships, not to mention a slew of track and field state titles. For those of us who were there when it started, the name itself was worthy of debate. Some wanted to keep the old names. Others thought something off the wall would be better. It was finally decided that the MIAA was a combination of all the names. And it was. And it still is. So, let’s take a ride through time on the MIAA train. All aboard.

First stop the early years.

Bobby Hall, a long-time sportswriter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, was assigned to cover the press conference announcing the MIAA’s birth in 1967 at the old St. Clair Restaurant.

“The only thing I remember about the press conference was the fact that it was such a surprise announcement,” Hall says. “I went there knowing a press conference had been called, but, as I recall, I didn’t have a clue what it was about. It was one of those things that they’d kind of worked out quietly behind the scenes.”

A year later the MIAA started its championship roll. The first champions were Christian Brothers High School, Melrose, Washington and Trezevant (in football), Carver (in basketball) and CBHS (in baseball).

The MIAA’s original 25 members (23 city schools and two Parochial schools) competed in only eight varsity sports, according to Guinozzo, who has followed the MIAA since its birth.

City schools official Joe Warlick and others helped coaxed Dean Ehlers away from what was then known as Memphis State University to become the MIAA’s first director. Ehlers had joined the university’s staff as head baseball and assistant basketball coach in 1956. He was the Tigers’ head basketball coach from 1962-66.

DEAN EHLERS (MIAA DIRECTOR, 1966-1971)

“I owe a lot to the MIAA. It came along at a time in my career that I was seeking challenges. And it was a challenge. I look back on my career with the MIAA and I think we did a good job at a very difficult time. We came up with a guideline book that to my knowledge is still being used today. I tried to deal with everybody on the same level. None of us knew exactly what would happen, but we had faith in the system. And we had a lot of great coaches at that time that wanted to work together.

“As for the name, MIAA, I’m not sure exactly how we came up with that. It was, as best I can remember, a combination of the old Prep League and Negro Prep League. The name just seemed to fit.”

Note: Ehlers came to the MIAA after severing first as an assistant and then as the head men’s basketball coach at what was then called Memphis State University. He left the MIAA to become athletic director at James Madison University, a position he held until June 1994.

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It didn’t take the MIAA long to get a team in the state football playoffs. The year was 1969 when South Side, coached by the legendary Rube Boyce (yes, the same guy who told Elvis to stick to guitar playing when he was at Humes), lost to Rex Dockery (yes, the same guy who later was the head coach at Memphis State), 15-12.

That was the first year for the TSSAA to crown a football champion.

In the 1960s, Melrose won three district titles, but it wasn’t until 1977 that an MIAA team -- Christian Brothers High School -- got the organization’s first state championship. And what a game it was. The Brothers rallied to beat Chattanooga Baylor, 22-19, at the Liberty Bowl in a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds. Most of the sportswriters from Chattanooga had already written their stories when the Brothers scored the winning touchdown. They had to do some quick rewriting.

When the 1970s rolled around, it was time for Bill Todd to step up as the MIAA’s new athletic director. A former successful basketball coach at Kingsbury, Todd was no stranger to the MIAA. Not only had he been a coach but he had also been involved in other programs in the city schools system.

BILL TODD, MIAA DIRECTOR (1972-91)

“It was a big job to put this thing together, believe me.

“I was AD for about 20 years. So you can imagine I’ve got a lot of memories of the MIAA. We had to do some things that may not have been popular at the time, but they were things we had to do for the good of the MIAA. I think we did the job right.

“I remember the early basketball teams. I think it goes back to (Larry) Finch and (Ronnie) Robinson at Melrose. The year before we integrated, I’d say Lester (high school) was one of the best (teams). They were great. We watched Bobby Smith at Melrose play. We always wanted to play them.

“(Overton’s) Johnny Neumann was potentially the best (player) at that time. He could do more things. He could rebound, he could run and he could shoot. He was a pretty smart basketball player. Finch was a working man’s player. He wasn’t all that flashy. Johnny was. Johnny was probably the best player until Penny (Hardaway) came along. I think Penny’s probably the best overall. He was a lot like Johnny, but Penny probably had a little more strength than Johnny and could run a little better. They are the all-time ones.”

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Melrose’s Smith, who played from 1960-65, is still the city’s all-time career scoring leader with 3,640 points. That ranks No. 2 on the state’s all-time scoring list. Neumann led the state in scoring in 1968-69, averaging 35.3 points per game.

Even though they never made it to the state finals, coach L. C. Gordon’s Carver basketball teams in the mid to late 1960s rank among the MIAA’s all-time best. Players like Frank Patillio and Marvin Brooks helped make the Cobras click.

COACH L.C. GORDON

“I had some great teams and a lot of talent during my time as the (boys) basketball coach at Carver High (1964-69). I still think we were the first team to make it mandatory that you shook hands after a game. That was a big deal with the end of segregation and the start of integration. I remember when we played Bartlett and they had that 7-footer (Steve Turner). Whooo, he was a big kid.

Then, we had some great games wherever we played. Packed crowds came to see kids like Willie Gunn, Marvin Brooks and Frank Patillio. I mean, we were something like 33-3 and 33-2 back-to-back. Those were some great times. They were days I’ll never forget.”

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There’s no doubt basketball was king in the MIAA in the 1970s. After-all, the MIAA won six boys championships, including three times when both teams in the finals were from the MIAA: 1975 --

Northside beat Fairley in Class L, 1977 when Treadwell beat Manassas in Class AA and 1979 when Northside beat Hamilton in Class AAA. Not bad for a city that hadn’t won a state title since Whitehaven, which was then in the county, won in 1938. The Melrose boys broke the city’s championship ice in basketball in 1974 with a 76-30 victory over Haywood County of Brownsville. In the 1970s, the MIAA’s dominate schools in football were Hamilton (five district titles) and East (four district titles).

COACH ROOSEVELT HANCOCK

“My coaching tenure in the MIAA is most memorable and was very enjoyable. My entire coaching experience at Hamilton High provided me opportunities year-in and year-out to develop and cultivate player/coach relationships with some of the finest and most prominent men Memphis has known.

“My Hamilton High School football history reminds me that rivalries such as Hamilton vs. Melrose, Hamilton vs. South Side and yes, most definitely, Hamilton vs. Christian Brothers High School will always be remembered and cherished throughout our lives.

“Of all rivalry football games Hamilton High competed in the 1977 Hamilton vs. CBHS game was the most thrilling and exciting. The game was played during the regular season at what was then known as Memorial Stadium (Liberty Bowl) before 12,000-plus fans.

“At the half, the score was CBHS 12, Hamilton 0. Due to a very dedicated senior leadership and Hamilton’s desire to be the victorious that night, the final score was Hamilton 13, CBHS 12. This football game made me realize and know that coach Tom Nix of CBHS was one of the premier high school football coaches in the state of Tennessee. To help solidify my point, coach Nix won the AAA, the state’s largest division, state football championship that year.

“The Hamilton vs. CBHS game caused me to coin a true and hard-hitting phrase: “You haven’t played any ball until you’ve played the Brothers.”

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The 1970s were also the twi-light years for one of the MIAA’s legendary football coaches -- Manassas’ Johnny Johnson. He tutored the Tigers to three district titles in the ‘70s on his way to becoming the first coach in city school history to win 200 games in football. One of Manassas’s all-time great athletes, Ed Wilson, helped start the 1970s on a solid note for Tiger basketball fans, too, when he set the MIAA record -- a record that still stands -- with 35 rebounds in game during the 1971-72 season.

And who’ll ever forget the night Chris Barrett of Mitchell had during the 1977 basketball season? All Barrett did was connect on 26 of 30 field goals for 52 points as Mitchell beat Trezevant, 75-69, in triple overtime at White Station’s Spartan Palace.

“What makes it even more remarkable is that he didn’t shoot a free throw,” says Tim Morgan, who was Mitchell’s coach at the time. “That was before the three-point shot, too. And I’d say at least a dozen of his baskets were from beyond the arc. It was an unbelievable performance that I’ll never forget.”

We can’t leave the 1970s without mentioning W. S. Donald and his track teams at Wooddale High School. Talk about domination. Donald’s Cardinals were good. Real good.

Consider these Donald track and field facts:

He won his first state title in 1973 with 34 points, more than double the runners-up, and followed that with a state indoor title in 1975. These were only the start of good things in track field at Wooddale under Donald, including state outdoor championships in 1986-87-88 and state runners-up in 1992. Not to mention all the individual state champions Donald coached in his legendary career (1967-1996).

You know you’ve done something good when other coaches talk about you. Such is the case with Donald. To this day Wooddale’s great track and field teams haven’t been forgotten. Not even by their foes.

“The great Wooddale teams of the mid-1970s and early 1980s were unbelievable,” says John Roberts, Central High’s long-time track and field coach.

All of which brings us to the 1980s, and what many believe to be the MIAA’s “Golden Era.” For this is when things started to change for the MIAA. Records fell fast and furious in all sports.

The MIAA won 10 state championships in boys basketball in the 1980s, including back-to-back titles by Central and East. In fact, Central won its two titles (1981 and ‘82) in different classifications. Eight other MIAA teams lost in the state finals during the ‘80s.

COACH GARY STEVERSON

“I was the basketball coach at Whitehaven High School for 16 years. When I first took over the program it was at its lowest point in some time. My first year we went 6-23 and it was a very frustrating season.

“But, the 1984-85 season, is the season that brought me the most pleasant memories. We had assembled a great group of players. We had size, quickness, shooting ability and great ball handling skills. The most important thing about the ‘85 team was the good chemistry. All the players got along very well and they all played unselfishly.

“The ‘85 season was a season to remember. We finished 34-1 and the only defeat was to Baltimore Dunbar in the King Cotton Classic in Pine Bluff, Ark. The ‘85 team swept through the MIAA undefeated and went on to win the Triple A state championship.

Ron Huery emerged as a star player, and a player to watch in the future. He was the MVP of the state tournament as a junior and was Mr. Basketball in AAA his senior year.”

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That was also the year that Steverson almost died after a window in his office shattered as he was attempting to close, severely cutting his wrist.

“I felt some pain in my wrist and I saw blood spurting toward the ceiling,” Steverson says. “I grabbed my wrist with my other hand and applied pressure. I was fortunate that two of my players were in the office at the time of the accident.”

You might say Ron Huery and Rodney Douglass saved their coach’s life that day as they quickly helped get him to Methodist South Hospital, where he underwent six hours of surgery to repair damaged tendons, ligaments and nerves. He missed a triple over-time win over Raleigh-Egypt and the entire King Cotton Classic.

“After my wrist healed and I was back on the sidelines our ‘85 team played great the rest of the season, culminating in the AAA State title,” says Steverson, now an assistant principal at Central High School.

Talk about great games and individual stars. In the 1980s, the MIAA had its share. Not only in football and basketball, but also in baseball. Ah, baseball. America’s pastime. And no one played it better than White Station in 1981 as coach George Holt’s Spartans combined timely hitting with solid pitching to win the state Class AA title. That was the season of perfection for White Station pitcher Bubba Cummings, who went 10-0 with a 0.43 earned run average. It was only the sixth state baseball title in city schools history and the first since Treadwell won in 1969.

The 1980s was also a decade made famous by nicknames.

Who’ll ever forget The Master Blaster, Penny, Chuck, Hot Rod and maybe the best nickname of them all, The X-Man? Their given names were Richard Madison, Anfernee Hardaway, Elliot Perry and Roderick Watson, but most people knew them by their nicknames.

The same names seemed to keep popping up in the ‘80s in basketball.

If it wasn’t Madison at Northside, Hardaway or Perry at Treadwell or Watson at Westside, it was Todd Day at Hamilton, Ridgeway’s Orien Watson or Melrose’s Michael Wilson.

The ‘80s also produced five of the top 10 individual, single-game scoring performance in Shelby Metro history, including a 65-point effort by Westside’s Steve Booker vs. Oakhaven in 1987-88.

Watson and Perry combined to win five state scoring titles in a decade that saw MIAA players set the state scoring pace every year but two -- and in those years two players from Shelby County ranked No. 1

MIAA STATISTICIAN, KEITH GENTRY

“The game I remember the most is the first Treadwell-East basketball game during the 1988-89 season. Both of their games that year were held at White Station's 'Spartan Palace' to accommodate the expected crowds. East had Anthony Douglas and Billy Smith, who were both seniors, while Treadwell featured junior Anfernee Hardaway.

“When I arrived at White Station around 6:15 or so, there were people lined up all the way out to Perkins trying to get in (the street in front of the school.) The gym was already packed inside. (I wrote 4,100 for the attendance in my scorebook.) I remember thinking then that I'd never been to a high school game with that type of atmosphere. East ended up winning the game, but there was no way the game itself matched the excitement that preceded it. The two schools played again at White Station later in the year, but it was nothing like the first game. It was a game that I'll never forget.

“Penny Hardaway was the best high school basketball player I've ever seen. I haven't seen a player before or since who could do so many things, and do them well. At 6-7, he could score, rebound, pass, handle the ball, block shots, you name it. As a senior, he averaged 36 points per game, but the best thing about his game was his passing. He would thread the needle with a pass to a teammate, and you'd wonder how he even saw the other player open. He could also score, seemingly whenever he wanted to.”

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Westside’s Watson (1981-85) wasn’t bad either. We’re talking about a shooting guard who still holds five Shelby Metro scoring records -- career average (33.1), most field goals made in a season (504) and career (1,380) and most field goals attempted in a season (1,017) and in a career (2,695).

He led the state in scoring for three years in a row.

“Never has happened before or till this day,” says Gary Zimmerman, who was Watson’s coach at Westside and is now an assistant principal at Central High. “Imagine what it (his scoring average) would have been if we played with the 3-pointer.”

But there were other memories for Westside and Zimmerman in the ‘80s.

COACH GARY ZIMMERMAN

“In the 1986 regional championship game at Westside, we got beat by Bolton. I still have people tell me about that game.

(Sylvester) Gray for Bolton and (David) Harris for Westside -- many believe it was and still is the best game for two of the best big man to play in one game around here. We were told by the fire marshal at 5:30 to stop selling tickets (game time was 7:30). I had coaches sending me notes into the gym to see if I could get them -- three from my own district. (The) first four plays of the game were Gray dunk, Harris dunk, Harris, Gray dunk.”

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Still on the subject of high-powered basketball, we’ve got to mention the night Angela Davis of Westwood had against Central during the 1998-89 season. Would you believe 75 points? That’s five points better than Toni Jackson of Fairley scored in a six-on-six game against Whitehaven in 1976-77. That’s right, six-on-six. It wasn’t until the 1980s that girls basketball in Tennessee dropped the six-on-six format in favor of the more convention style of five-on-five. No longer did some girls play only defense while others played strictly offense.

Not that we’ll ever forget six-on-six players like Mary Boatwright at Carver (1971-74) and her 40.2 career scoring average or Fairley’s Toni Jackson, who scored 70 points against Whitehaven in 1986-77. The 1980s were also a decade the MIAA won its first state girls basketball championship when Booker T. Washington, led by tourney MVP Catherine ‘Kitty’ Price and its diminutive coach Horace Burchett, stunned powerful Mount Juliet, 49-43, at Murfreesboro.

Four years later coach Robert Newman’s Melrose Lady Golden Wildcats made it title No. 2 for the MIAA with a one-sided victory over perennial power Shelbyville. For Newman, it was only the beginning. It seemed everyone’s biggest game was against Newman and his potent Lady Golden Wildcats.

“Anytime we played Melrose the gyms would be packed,” says Derek Hunter, reflecting on his days as the girls basketball coach at Central School. “The most memorable moments for me in the MIAA were our games against Melrose.”

Newman wouldn’t have it any other way.

COACH ROBERT NEWMAN

“Some of the most exciting and memorable moments in my life came as a result of my relationship with the MIAA. First, as a player, and then as a coach.

“There’s no feeling like being state champs, walking off that floor in Murfreesboro with that Golden Ball. I’ll never forget that moment. I’ll never forget the feeling of being No. 1. There’s no feeling like it, believe me.

“Therefore, I don’t worry about winning league championships, city, district or regional championships. I go after the gold.”

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The 1980s were also good for coach Terry Tippett. If you follow MIAA basketball today, you probably think of Tippett only for his string of successful teams at White Station.

But it was his 1980 Trezevant High team that helped jump-start his coaching career. The Bears joined coach Marion Brewer’s Northside Cougars as state champions in 1980 and set the tone for what was to become a dominate decade for MIAA boys basketball teams. To this day, Tippett hasn’t forgotten what it meant to win his first title.

COACH TERRY TIPPETT

“The Trezevant team that I coached in 1979-80 with Terrance McGhee and Booker Johnson won the state championship, but only after enduring Messick.

“Messick had three shots in the last 10 seconds of the game to beat us in the regional semifinals at White Station, but fortunately missed all of them. As Al McGuire said, ‘it takes a great team and a little luck to win a championship.’

“At White Station, I have been fortunate enough to coach some great players and great teams (winning 4 of the last 7 regional tournaments and advancing to the State 3 of those years).

“But Robert Manning’s teams at East in the early ‘80s, and Marion Brewer’s teams at Northside were also dynasties in their times.

Larry Spicer and the Master Blaster (Richard Madison) were great players on great teams as well as the great games between (Treadwell’s) Penny Hardaway and Billy Smith, Anthony Douglas and Co. (at East).

“Speaking of dynasties, coach Sylvester Ford’s teams at Fairley in the early 1990s were almost unbeatable with Corey Beck, Dwight Stewart and Elmer Martin, then followed by Deuce Ford and Co.”

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The 1980s also produced some classic girls basketball battles, such as Craigmont, coached by Rick Sullivan, and Mitchell, coached by Lionel Jones. From 1979 through 1990, Mitchell played in the MIAA girls city title game seven times, winning five championships. The Lady Tigers also won four straight regional titles to start the ‘80s.

And then, they watched as Newman’s Melrose teams got hot.

But until that happened, Sullivan had a front row seat for some of the MIAA’s greatest games. First, as a player at Overton High, when he played alongside Johnny Neumann, and later as a coach at Craigmont. His son, Eric, is now the head girls basketball coach at White Station High.

COACH RICK SULLIVAN

“The times I coached at Craigmont High (boys and girls basketball) were very special. The teams I had I thought a lot of. When you mention the MIAA I go back not only as a coach, but also as a player.

“As I got into coaching, I guess we all have some memorable games.

“In the 1978-79 season, I was coaching Craigmont’s girls and we had one of the better teams in the state. And so did Mitchell. We played them for the MIAA championship at the Mid-South Coliseum and what I remember most about that game was that the TV cameras were there and they were interviewing everybody. I think we had at the time the largest crowd to ever see a girls basketball game in Memphis. We had over 6,000.

“We did lose that game. Not only that one, but we played them again in the ‘79-80 season for the city championship and we got beat again. (Mitchell coach) Lionel and the Street sisters and all those great Mitchell players; if they didn’t have the best girls teams coming out of Mitchell, they had one of the best.”

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We can’t leave the 1980s without reflecting on the “X-Man.”

Bill Todd calls Trezevant back Xavier Crawford the best football player he ever saw in the MIAA. He was that, and more, according to his coach at Trezevant High School -- Harry Burnham, now the head coach at Craigmont High. To give you an idea of how good Crawford was in 1985, consider this: He averaged 11 yards per carry.

“Our success (five district championships in the ‘80s at Trezevant) was due a lot by what I believe to be the best running back to come out of Memphis,” Burnham says. “Xavier Crawford was the first back to run for over 2,000 yards (2,310, to be exact on 210 carries). Due to a large point spread in many of our games he even sat out the fourth and sometimes the third quarter.”

One game, in particular stands out, in Burnham’s mind. The Bears were playing Frayser at the Liberty Bowl in a “special” Wednesday night game. There were about 10,000 fans in the stands. Crawford opened the game with about a 60-yard TD. Then, as Burnham recalls, “it was all Frayser.”

“We held Frayser late on the 1-yard line, trailing 7-6,” he says. “We drove the ball the length of the field and Tim Crutchfield scored with about six seconds left. Thank goodness only coach (Terry) Ryan and I saw one of our linemen jump before the snap.”

COACH TERRY RYAN

“A question has come up many, many times. Many coaches and media-people have asked who was the greatest player I ever coached. Was it Charles Greenhill or Ken Hamlin?

“My response is always the same. Both young men were great gentlemen on and off the field. Both young men came from fine caring families. So, whom would I pick today if I had a choice? I have had some great athletes come through Frayser in 34 years of coaching. From the Hopkins brothers, Barry Todd, Mike Ryan, Colonel Bill Bradshaw, Jordan Boyd, James Hawkins, Terry Butler, the Warren brothers, Jim Mayes to mention a few.”

In other words, he can’t pick one over another.

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Memories and more memories. It’s time to move on to yet another decade of MIAA excellence: the 1990s. Lloyd Williams and Emmit Simon stepped into the big shoes of director of athletics for the city schools system during this decade.

And the MIAA’s championship roll continued.

For this was when Roberts’ Central High track and field teams were so strong, winning four state team titles -- 1994 (team and team relay champs), 1995 (team and team relay champs), 1997 (team and relay champs and possibly the best top to bottom team in Roberts’ coaching era) and 1999 (came from 30 points down after the field events to tie Knoxville Farragut for team title).

In football, it was a golden decade for Melrose’s Golden Wildcats.

Melrose won its first of two titles in the ‘90s in 1996, beating Chattanooga Tyner, 32-12. After losing in the championship game in 1997, the Golden Wildcats notched their second title in 1998 with a 35-34 win over Roane County.

A year later, East got into the football state title book with 20-14 wins over Knoxville Central.

COACH AL CATE

“I guess the greatest upset in my coaching career at Central (1968-1970 as assistant and 1971-present as head coach/190-139 record) came in an 18-0 win in the first round of the state playoffs over Collierville at Collierville in 2000. Central was 4-6; Collierville 10-0. But we beat ‘em. It was remarkable.

“I guess I’m also proud to be at school that has more victories (overall) than any other high school in Shelby County. Central has won more city championships (overall) than any other school. Central has been playing football longer than any other high school in Tennessee. Central has been playing football longer than any college or high school in the Mid-South.”

Note: And we might add, doing it well, too, not only in football and basketball, but also baseball, track and field, tennis and just about every other sport.

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In basketball, the 1990s were again kind to the MIAA. MIAA teams made it to the state finals eight times in the ‘90s and it won six championships, including two by Kingsbury (1991 and 1998). But when it came to rivalries in the ‘90s few could match Hamilton’s girls vs. Booker T. Washington, who squared off three straight times in the MIAA finals: 1995-97.

COACH DEREK HUNTER

“We were very close to being the first team, boys or girls, to win five consecutive city championships in basketball. Ridgeway beat us the fifth year but we beat them real bad in the regional tournament. That year we advanced to the State Tournament.”

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The MIAA’s boys basketball reputation never missed a beat in the 1990s as coaches Reginald Mosby at East, Tippett at White Station, Jimmy Adams at Raleigh-Egypt, Ted Anderson at Hamilton, Ford at Fairley and Fred Horton at Booker T. Washington kept their programs on cruise control.

“At White Station I have been fortunate enough to coach some great players and great teams,” Tippett says. “The city championship at The Pyramid with Robert O’Kelly and Tony Harris of East, when we won in two overtimes, was as great a game as fans will ever see. We have had a great run at White Station, winning four of the last seven regional tournaments and advancing to the state three of those years.”

As for baseball in the 1990s, who knows better than James McNeal?

In a 20-year career that is still going strong, McNeal’s baseball teams have won 288 games on their way to winning two city titles and back-to-back league and district titles in 2000-001. Overall, his teams have won seven league and city district championships.

“A greater highlight is to see over 90 players continue their academic and athletic opportunities on the collegiate level,” McNeal says. This includes ‘89 Fairley graduate Kevin Booker, who was a 1992 draftee of the Chicago Cubs (11th round).

The 1990s also signal another change in MIAA leadership. Emmit Simon turned over the athletic director reign to Wayne Weedon, a former collegiate football coach, in March 1998. At the same time, Robert Cole was named Weedon’s assistant. Under Weedon’s leadership, facilities and equipment have been updated, an MIAA Health Manual and Student Athletic Academic Guidebook has been installed and MIAA and Athletic Policy Determining Committee by-laws have been updated.

A program to train all coaches in CPR and regulations of MIAA has also been established, along with new scoreboards for all stadiums through the solicitation of corporate sponsors. There has also been a notable increase in media coverage and community athletic support, which have resulted in more athletic revenue. Among the other things implemented during Weedon’s tenure has been the birth of a middle school volleyball program, an Outstanding Senior Athletic Banquet and city championship honorary banquet with plaques given to city championship schools.

In other words the MIAA train is on the right course as we begin a new century. It’s a century that started off a solid foot for the MIAA as East’s Mustangs made it two straight years in the Class 4-A state football playoffs before losing to Maryville, 33-14.

It was only fitting that the Mustangs helped get the MIAA off to a solid start in the 21st century. We’re talking about a school that has produced more than its share of great athletes and coaches.

Consider this: MIAA athletes have won more individual sports awards at The Commercial Appeal’s Best of the Preps Awards Program than county or private schools.

That’s one of the reasons Derrick Crawford of East was among the six former Shelby Metro athletes selected by The Commercial Appeal for special recognition at the BOP’s 25th anniversary program in 1994. Crawford was a football, basketball and track star for the Mustangs in the late 1970s.

Maurice Knight, Crawford’s coach at East, said Crawford was one of the two best athletes he taught in 20 years at East. Jerry Harris, who excelled in football and basketball, was the other.

Just another memory for the MIAA.

All of which makes the MIAA so special.