This is an opinion piece.

On Thursday in Montgomery, the Alabama Sports Writers Association named its 43rd Mr. Basketball winner.

This year’s award went to DeWayne Brown, the 6-foot-9 center who led Hoover to an undefeated season and will play college basketball at Tennessee in the fall.

Also, in attendance Thursday?

The ASWA’s first Mr. Basketball.

Terry Coner won the award in 1983 while playing at Phillips-Birmingham. He went on to play at Alabama and was a second-round NBA draft pick for the Atlanta Hawks.

It was a little different when Terry won the state’s top high school basketball award. There was no banquet like there is today. No actual plaque or trophy.

Terry was just publicized as being Mr. Basketball.

“It was really an easy choice,” said AHSAA Director of Communications Ron Ingram, then with the Birmingham News.

Ingram said the ASWA’s first basketball banquet came two years later when Vincent Robinson of Bridgeport claimed the award in 1985.

The event has steadily grown thanks to partnerships with sponsors like ALFA Insurance and the Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association. A Miss Basketball Award was first presented in 1988 to Jeanice Slater of Hartselle. Spring Garden’s Ace Austin became the first two-time winner of that award on Thursday.

Coner was in Montgomery this year to support his son Austin, who was named Class 6A Player of the Year after leading Pinson Valley to the state championship game.

“This is awesome,” Terry said. “He (Austin) has been playing since he was 4-5 all the way to rec league and travel ball. I’ve been coaching him in travel ball. It’s been great to see how he has progressed as a player. He told me one day he wanted to be better than me, and I think he had a better career than I had. He’s matured a lot as far as being an all-around player. He did some of everything for the team this year.”

Though there was no banquet when he played, Terry Coner still remembers the Mr. Basketball Award being “a great moment” in his life.

“I was surprised because there were so many talented players at every school in Birmingham at that particular time,” he said. “I was really surprised and really honored and blessed just to receive it.”

Coner, a point guard, said he played with a group of athletes who cared for each other and worked hard and played for a group of coaches who pushed the team to the limit.

“We were a real close group,” he said. “They believed in me and trusted in me, so the coach turned it over to me. They trusted in me to make the right decision, the right plays, during games, and we were very successful.”

Coner said he has watched the game change quite a bit since his time in high school.

“You have guys now looking to score more instead of playing more like a unit,” he said. “I think that kind of hurts some because you can depend too much on one particular player and most of the time you aren’t going to win games like that. It takes a group of players who come together to win a state title.”

Coner said his son’s Pinson Valley team – coached by Darrell Barber – played as a unit this year and, consequently, was able to reach the 6A title game.

Is Austin’s basketball game similar to that of his father?

It depends on who you ask.

“It’s similar,” Terry said. “Play hard, play aggressive, play team ball.”

Austin?

“It is not,” he said. “It’s way different, way better.”

Both were pretty darn good.

A rare tennis achievement

Montgomery Academy senior John Alford and junior Jackson Brown defeated Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa late last week to win their 100th career match as a doubles tandem. They have been playing together for five years with the exception of just a few matches.

Alford and Brown have won a pair of 6A doubles state titles, and their career record as of last weekend was 100-9. The AHSAA state tennis tournaments will take place in Mobile next week (April 21-25).

Thought for the Week

“But He was pierced our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities: The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him; and by His stripes we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:5.

Friday is Good because Sunday is coming.

Happy Easter. He is Risen.

Ben Thomas is the high school managing producer at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected].