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Holtville’s Findley to be inducted to high school hall of fame
By Kyle Austin - Sports Editor
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Former Holtville High School coach James Findley is about to become a posthumous member of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.
“I’m so glad he’s being recognized,” said Edgewood Academy head basketball coach Tony Taylor, who was a long-time friend of Findley. “He loved working with kids and cared so much about how they did.”
Taylor and Findley renewed their friendship in the mid-1980s when Taylor returned to Elmore County. Taylor said basketball was the thing that sparked the friendship.
“Coach Findley was always ready to go with me and see games together,” he said. “For 20 years, we’d go watch anybody play, have some good dinners, and we’d even scout games for each other...it was a lot of fun.”
Holtville High School principal Jimmy Hull, who was also a Bulldog basketball coach, also had a close relationship with Findley.
“To some degree, he influenced the way I coached,” said Hull, who played for Findley when he attended HHS. “He was a character; he knew how to keep you loose in a tight situation and get you to play your best.”
Findley coached a number of sports at Holtville from 1960-65 and from 1984-1997, but he was most well known for his success on the basketball court. Findley’s boys basketball teams put together a 259-117 record during his career, including five trips to the state tournament and four appearances in the state finals.
“I played for him from 1990-93,” Hull said. “As a coach, he was good at managing the talent he had and letting guys play to their strengths.”
Hull’s 1993 team went 27-2 and made a trip to the Final Four before being eliminated. That season started a streak of five straight trips to the state tournament.
In 1996, Findley was named the Class 3A Coach of the Year and his Bulldogs won the Class 3A state championship.
During his tenure at Holtville, Findley served as both a science teacher and a coach, though his coaching abilities were not limited to basketball. He was also an assistant football coach for eight years and head coach for two. He coached girls and boys tennis for five years, and he spent two years as the softball coach.
Findley also coached track for two years, and his last track team earned a runner-up finish in the state meet.
When his coaching career ended, Findley was still a fixture in the Holtville community, working with his church and Dixie Youth and attending almost every HHS sporting event.
“He was just a life-long member of the Slapout community,” Hull said. “He always had suggestions for me if I needed help while I was coaching, and he was always a big supporter of what we were doing.”
Before becoming involved with Holtville athletics, Findley graduated from Calera High School and got his degree at the University of Montevallo.
When Holtville High opened the doors to its new gymnasium in December 2006, numerous former players and colleagues were on hand as the gym was dedicated to Findley.
“Even with his health failing over the last few years, he always had plenty to say about Holtville and basketball,” Taylor said. “He was so happy about the gym.”
Findley will become the 15th member of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame who has Elmore County ties. Others include Wetumpka’s Russell Taylor, Jack Ray, Edgar Welden, Ken Blankenship, Stokely Bazemore and Jack Wood; Tallassee’s J.E. “Hot” O’Brien, Tom Jones, Duane Webster and Ronnie Baynes; Eclectic’s Terry Burt; Stanhope Elmore’s Jimmy Foshee; Elmore County’s John Whatley; and Holtville’s Bubba Lewis.
“Several years ago, Jimmy Hull asked me if I would get some stuff together and send it to the Hall of Fame,” Taylor said. “He didn’t get in then, but we decided to try it again this year, and I’m glad to say they agreed with us.”
Joining Findley in the 18th class of the Hall of Fame are Alan Baker, Michael Cheatham, Don Cox, Greg Echols, Rickey Johnson, Bob Pannone, Tammy Richardson and Dale Welsh.
The 2008 class will be in-ducted March 17 at a banquet at the Renaissance Hotel at the Convention Center in Montgomery.
Tickets cost $35 each and may be ordered by sending payment to the Alabama High School Athletic Association, P.O. Box 242367, Montgomery 36124. For additional information, call 334-263-6994.
