Commentary By Robert Carter

The North Jefferson News



As a native Kentuckian, my spirits start to pick up a bit around this time every year.

It’s basketball season.

Having spent a dozen years living in Alabama and many more visiting family here before that, I am well aware that when it comes to sports in this state, it’s football first and everything else second. And that’s cool. I love football, too.

Truth is, there are few sports I don’t like — figure skating and synchronized swimming, but that’s about it. If the contestants wear sequins, it’s not really a sport. That’s my rule of thumb.

I’ve even stayed up late to watch lacrosse and Australian rules football on ESPN, and viewed rugby league and cricket on the Internet, if for no other reason than to try to figure out what the heck is going on.

But now we’re getting into my favorite part of the sports calendar, especially when it comes to high schools. Basketball is an up-close game. At most high schools, the fans are right up against the sidelines. No helmets to hide the faces of the players. You can see their emotions flowing in a struggle at the low post, as they hit a big three-pointer from the corner, or as they sweat out a crucial free throw in the late stages of a close game.

I really think basketball and high schools were made for each other.

For one thing, it is a sport where schools of varying sizes can play each other on a smoewhat even footing. Sure, big schools like Gardendale will have an advantage against smaller ones like Fultondale, on average. But on any given night, it is much more possible for the little schools to beat the big ones.

That principle still lives in my home state. Kentucky is the last state in the union to have all of its high schools, no matter what size, compete against each other for a single state championship. And about once every dozen years or so, a little school like an Edmonson County, University Heights or Glasgow will come along and beat the big Louisville and Lexington schools for the title.

Indiana, which is just as hoops crazy as its neighbor to the south, used to have the same one-tournament, one-class tradition. That’s what gave rise to the plot of the movie “Hoosiers,” where tiny Milan High School beat powerhouse Muncie Central. When Indiana moved to a four-class system in basketball a few years back, a civil war nearly broke out.

Despite football’s dominance as the big sport for Alabama prepsters, our state has produced its share of basketball stars over the years. The best known is Leeds’ own “Sir Charles” Barkley, who grew from being the Round Mound of Rebound for the Green Wave into a star at Auburn, and then famously did not become a role model. Robert Horry, the Crimson Tide star who has a whopping seven NBA championship rings with three different teams, grew up in Andalusia.

Here in our neck of the woods, hoops has its own tradition. Mark Cornelius, who led Gardendale to its first playoff berth in 1979 and made the All-State team, is back home to coach his old team after a stint as an assistant under Wimp Sanderson at Alabama and a very successful decade at Mountain Brook. And Billy Conner is entering his 19th season at Corner.

On the girls’ side, Ryan Griffin moves up in the family business. The new Gardendale head coach is the son of Bill Griffin, who coached the Rockets boys for a dozen years after more than two decades at Dora. Bill is now Ryan’s assistant. Over at Tabernacle Christian, coach Philip Coleman continues a successful run with the Torches.

And there are numerous others who are basketball “lifers” around here. The game has a successful tradition in North Jefferson, and there’s no indication that will change.

So if you see me prowling around your gym with a camera hanging from my neck, a notepad in my hand and a big ol’ grin on my face, now you’ll know why.

It’s basketball time.