James Horton was a man of faith that preferred to be known for his dedication to God more than what the accomplished player and coach had done in the area of sports. Horton excelled both as a player in his youth and as a basketball coach later in life. He was recently inducted as the first boys basketball coach in the McNairy Central Sports Hall of Fame. Horton’s son, Stacy accepted on behalf of his father at the banquet. The legend of Horton as a basketball player began when he was put on an older girls team when he was in the second grade. He continued to improve as a player and led Ramer High to the state tournament in 1958 and 1959. The Eagles finished the regular season 29-0 in 1959. Coach Horton came to MCHS after an outstanding career as a boys basketball coach at Corinth High. He led the Bobcats to the first-ever trip to the boys’ state tournament, first region title and to their first district championship. The ‘Cats won four district titles in his seven seasons as head coach. He completed his tenure at MCHS as the athletic director. Stacy remembered the summer when playing catch when his father asked the Michie School Junior High student whether he wanted to be a Corinth Warrior or McNairy Central Bobcat in high school. “I told him that I was going to be a Bobcat!” said Stacy. “He then told me that he had the opportunity to come coach at McNairy Central.” The younger Horton said his dad never talked much about basketball at home because he wanted us to have a life away from sports. Stacy said it was made apparent to him by his father that church life and family life were more important than basketball. “My Dad talked to me much more about baseball than he did about basketball,” said Stacy. “He knew my first love was baseball and he probably caught a billion pitches from me in our yard.” Horton’s son said the average person may not have known how deeply religious that his dad was during his lifetime. Stacy’s father served as an elder for many years at Antioch Church of Christ. “He had a deeper love for church than he did sports,” commented Stacy. “While he loved coaching basketball, he made it plain that he loved doing church work more and that Sunday was a day for church.” The younger Horton said that his years coaching at MCHS were important to him and that he enjoyed being a part of building a winning program. “He was extremely proud to come home and have winning teams at McNairy Central,” said Stacy. “The only time I got to play for my Dad as my coach was at McNairy Central.” Coach Horton told his son when he began playing at MCHS that he would have to earn his playing time and that nothing would be given to him. The younger Horton did not start on a regular basis until his senior season. A fond memory as a player for Stacy was when the ‘Cats upset favored Union City in the region tournament. UC had Mark Griffin, who later played at Tennessee. “Dad told me after that game that it was the best game he had ever seen me play,” said S. Horton. “I will never forget that compliment.” Horton was always fond of players that would come back to talk to him after they had graduated from school. Miguel Ratliff, a player on the first boys state tournament team at MCHS, was one of the speakers at Horton’s funeral last year. “A favorite of my Dad’s stories was saying that people told him Miguel would never make a good player,” said Stacy. “He said Miguel worked hard to become an all-district, all-region and all-state basketball player. That is the kind of story he loved to tell about his players.” While Coach Horton is no longer with us, his stories will remain with us forever.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:38:02 +0000
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