About us
We are the Hunstville Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame.
Contact Info
POBOX 566
Hunstville, Al 35804
We are the Hunstville Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame.
POBOX 566
Hunstville, Al 35804
Born in Woodville in 1931, Billy D. Shepard grew up in Paint Rock and went on to become one of the best three-sport lettermen in the history of Madison County High School. He lettered in football, basketball and baseball at Gurley every year from the eighth grade on, and played on several teams that won county championships. During his freshman year, Shepard won all-county and all-district honors and helped lead Gurley nicknamed the Cotton Pickers in those days to its first state basketball tournament appearance. Gurley finished third in the state tournament that year. Shepard also pitched the Madison County baseball team, which went 11-0 in the regular season, to its first appearance in the state baseball playoffs. On the football field, Shepard became known as one of W. O. Woolleys Six Great Horses. After his graduation from high school, Shepard signed a full athletic scholarship with Bethel College in Tennessee, where he lettered not only in basketball but also football and baseball. He was an honorable mention all-conference player in basketball. After his graduation from college, Shepard coached basketball and baseball at Hazel Green High School in 1954, then moved across the county to his alma mater the following year, coaching basketball, baseball and football from 1955-57. Bill Shepard continued to be involved in athletics for many years thereafter as the coach of various youth teams and also as a high school official. He credits three men high school coaches W. O. Woolley and Hub Myhand and his college coach, C. J. Vinson, as the ones who had the most influence on his athletic and spiritual life.
