Which high school basketball team was the best in Wilcox County history?

Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

A couple of weeks ago, I rode up to Birmingham to watch some of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s Super 7 State Basketball Tournament at Legacy Arena. Like a lot of folks, I bought a program and spent breaks flipping through its pages, looking at the team photos and rosters. On pages 54 and 55, the program featured a complete list of the all-time state championship winners, and I wasn’t surprised to see more than a few teams from Wilcox County on the list.

According to the list of AHSAA boys state champions, Wilcox Central won 5A state titles in 2000 and 2003. In 1985, Wilcox County High School won the 4A state title, and Wilcox County Training School won the 1A state title in 1971.

Also listed were past state champions for the Alabama Interscholastic Athletic Association, which was the governing body for Alabama’s black high schools until that organization merged with the AHSAA in 1968. From 1940 to 1968, the AIAA hosted its own state tournament at Alabama State University in Montgomery. In 1958, the AIAA crowned boys state champions in two classifications with Wilcox Training School winning a state title in one and with Carver of Dothan winning in the other, presumably larger, classification.

Later, at home, I found a mostly-complete list of the past state champions among Alabama Independent School Association schools and learned that Wilcox Academy won a boys state title in 1976. Wilcox Academy’s girls have won eight state titles in the history of their storied program. They won the overall state title in 1979, 1981 and 1982, Class AA titles in 1988, 1999, 2000 and 2001, and the Class A title in 2010.

All of this goes to show that Wilcox County has a strong tradition of excellence when it comes to high school basketball, and it should be noted that the above list of titles does not take into account the years that Wilcox County teams made it to the finals only to come up short in the championship game.

Reviewing all of these old basketball records got me to thinking about all of the great teams that have taken the court over the years in Wilcox County. Which was the best team in county history? Who was the greatest boys player to ever come out of Wilcox County? The greatest girls player? Who was the best high school coach in the county’s history?

These are the type of questions that make great material for debates around the watercooler, and I’d be interested to hear what readers have to say about it all. Also, while I’m on the subject, I want to mention that I’m on the board of directors for the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, and this organization is also currently collecting information on high school basketball teams in Alabama.

With that said, if any readers have complete team rosters and game results for any of the Wilcox County teams mentioned above, please let me hear from you. If you’ll pass the information along to me, I’ll be happy to pass it along to the historical society for inclusion in their records, most of which can be found on its website, www.ahsfhs.org.