Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

The Cotaco community honored five of its legendary sports heroes at an inaugural  Sports Hall of Fame Banquet in the school gym Sat., March 12.

Cotaco’s winning teams in the Morgan County Youth Basketball League were also recognized

“We had a good turnout and everyone enjoyed it,” said Brandon Hornbuckle, who took on the challenge of building community support for the hall of fame several months ago.  “The interest is there to build on what we’ve started,” he said.

Members of the first hall of fame class are former Cotaco  basketball players Gary Winton, Harvey Kirby, Gary Couey, Ronald Grantland and basketball coach  Ron Smith.

Members of three youth basketball teams-5&6 mixed, 9&10-boys and 11&12 boys-received trophies and certificates to commemorate their successful 2015-2016 seasons.

Winton received all-county and all-area recognition while playing for Cotaco and Brewer High Schools, Leading the county in scoring with a 28.8 points per game average in 1971-72.  He went on to become an All-American player for Army, with a career scoring average of 21-8 points and ll.1 rebounds per game.

Harvey Kirby was named to all-county and all-area teams in 1964-65 with a shooting average of 17.8 points per game.

Gary Couey averaged scoring 14.5 points per game in 1968-69 and was named to all-county and all-area teams.

Ronald Grantland was named to all-county and all-area teams in 1964-65 with a scoring average of 18.7 points per game.

Smith was head boy’s basketball coach at Cotaco School in 1992 when his team won the Morgan County Middle School Basketball Tournament championship. He coached basketball and volleyball at Brewer before giving up coaching this school year.

Hornbuckle said he learned a couple of interesting historical facts about Cotaco basketball at the induction banquet.

“Cotaco High School burned in 1940 and left the community without a gym,” he said, “but that didn’t  stop the school from having basketball. Players practiced and played their home games on a dirt court.”

“Kirby, Couey and some of other Cotaco players converted a vacant cotton gin in Florette into a makeshift gym in the 1960s and used it to shoot baskets and play pickup games,”
he added.

Hornbuckle said plans for the hall of fame include the election of a board of directors and officers and the selection of a committee to pick the next class of inductees.

“We’re also interested in providing the school with photo reproductions of outstanding players and teams suitable for hanging in the new Cotaco School gym,” he pointed out.  “This would help preserve the rich tradition of Cotaco sports achievements.”