12 officially inducted into AHSAA 2025 Hall of Fame class

Twelve major contributors to prep athletics in Alabama were inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame Monday night at a banquet held at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel and Spa Convention Center.

The Class of 2025 was selected by a committee of coaches and administrators assembled by the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association from nominations submitted by member schools and other organizations.

The Class of 2025 include administrators, coaches and officials.

Those individuals selected were football coach Brent Hubbert; volleyball coaches Melanie Donahoo and Tanya Broadway; basketball coaches Emanuel ‘Tubb’ Bell, now deceased; Robert Burdette; Renard Davis; and Floyd Mathews, Jr., deceased; baseball coach Matt Cimo; tennis coach Meridy Lyle Jones; administrator Steve Bailey; contributor Drew Ferguson, now deceased; and selected from the “Old-Timers’ Division was coach/administrator Hadley Provience, also deceased.

Bailey, who served as the Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association (AHSADCA) after retiring from coaching, spoke on behalf of the Class of 2025 thanking the selection committee for the recognition.

“I’m sure I am speaking for everyone up here when I say thank you for a wonderful evening,” Bailey said. “The response of the Class of 2025 is one of being humble and grateful. We wish to thank many people: our spouses and families for always being there to support us in the good times and the bad. We wish to thank the many students who allowed us to be a part of their lives, leading, teaching, and guiding them in their formative years.

“We thank parents for trusting us with the precious lives of your children and for your support. … We thank our administrators for supporting us in our daily efforts to conduct our program. We thank our support personnel for always keeping our facilities clean and functioning.”

Bailey added, “We thank the many co-workers throughout the years who in many instances helped to mold us into who we are today. We thank the classes who came before us for the example you provided. We are honored to take a place beside you in this Hall of Fame. And wed thank the people who nominated us, the committee who selected us.”

Bailey closed quoting Albert Einstein which he said summed up the inductees’ feelings. “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”

The Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association, the coaches’ wing of the AHSAA, oversees the Hall of Fame.

The first Hall of Fame class was inducted in 1991. These 12 new inductees will run the total enshrined into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame to 415.