The Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame grew by 10 on Monday as the newest members were recognized at the Abilene Civic Center.
Prior to the banquet I caught up with Former Cooper Baseball Coach Andy Malone and he talked about being inducted into the Hall.
"You know, what excited me is all the kids I got to coach," he said. "And then my phone has just continuously rang ever since I got on. I went to a little place last night and about 15 of them were over there, so it's exciting. It's exciting for them, it's exciting to me."
With Coach Malone now being mentioned in the same breath as the other Big Country Legends, he is quick to give credit to the kids he coached.
"Our kids were so good when I was at Cooper," he said. "I mean, I just ran through unbelievable kids. An it made you think 'Oh man, this is the greatest thing that has ever happened.'"
Now Coach Malone is proud to represent Cooper in the Big Country Hall of Fame.
"Cooper was the best school I was ever at," he said. "We had great athletes. Football was down a little bit then all of a sudden baseball took over. Cooper is well thought of all over the State of Texas."
Here are the rest of Monday night's inductees:
Former Olympian and stuntman Dean Smith from Graham,
Hawley's Bruce Land,
John Paul Cane,
Abilene Golfer Judy Casey,
Former Cooper Football Coach Ray Overton,
Breckenridge's Joe Crousen,
Kelly Kent is inducted posthumously,
And Ken and John Ford will be given the legacy award.
Prior to the banquet I caught up with Former Cooper Baseball Coach Andy Malone and he talked about being inducted into the Hall.
"You know, what excited me is all the kids I got to coach," he said. "And then my phone has just continuously rang ever since I got on. I went to a little place last night and about 15 of them were over there, so it's exciting. It's exciting for them, it's exciting to me."
With Coach Malone now being mentioned in the same breath as the other Big Country Legends, he is quick to give credit to the kids he coached.
"Our kids were so good when I was at Cooper," he said. "I mean, I just ran through unbelievable kids. An it made you think 'Oh man, this is the greatest thing that has ever happened.'"
Now Coach Malone is proud to represent Cooper in the Big Country Hall of Fame.
"Cooper was the best school I was ever at," he said. "We had great athletes. Football was down a little bit then all of a sudden baseball took over. Cooper is well thought of all over the State of Texas."
Here are the rest of Monday night's inductees:
Former Olympian and stuntman Dean Smith from Graham,
Hawley's Bruce Land,
John Paul Cane,
Abilene Golfer Judy Casey,
Former Cooper Football Coach Ray Overton,
Breckenridge's Joe Crousen,
Kelly Kent is inducted posthumously,
And Ken and John Ford will be given the legacy award.
