About Inductee

Frankie Davidson, the current assistant principal at Buckhorn High School, believes in second chances. With good reason. The biggest moment of Davidsons athletic career was itself a classic second chance, and he made the most of it. On March 9, 1991 at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Davidson calmly sank two 1-and-1 free throws at the end of the game to give Buckhorn a 67-66 victory over Livingston in the final of the Alabama Class 4A state basketball tournament. Ironically, in an almost identical situation exactly a year earlier in the 4A title game at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Davidson missed two potentially winning free throws in the closing seconds against perennial powerhouse Wenonah. In the 1990 game, the Bucks trailed 70-69 with seven seconds remaining when Davidsons free throws went awry. Wenonah added a late free throw to win by two, 71-69. In the 91 game, the Livingston player who fouled Davidson with 12 seconds left mistakenly believed his team was down by one point. Instead, Livingston was leading 66-65. As he walked to the foul line, Davidson was understandably thinking of the year before. So were his teammates. After the game, Buckhorn forward Jimmy Pincheon admitted to Rick Davis of The Huntsville Times that he had a flashback to last year," but added: I knew Frankie would make em this this year. I just knew he would." And he did. Hows that for poetic redemption? What are the odds? Recalling the drama 23 years later, Davidson said he really wasnt feeling the pressure, unlike the previous year. It was our time," he said. He made the first shot to tie the game. The Livingston coach called timeout. Then Davidson made the second for a one-point lead. Livingston got off three shots in the frenzied final seconds. All of them missed. I always knew winning the state title would change me and my teammates forever," Davidson said. For four years of our lives, we put on the greatest show the New Market community has ever seen. I thought about the hard work we put in, the punishment to our bodies, the friendships wed developed, coming up short the year before. But mostly, I remember jumping up and down as the final buzzer hit zero and holding that big blue trophy at the end of the day." Buckhorn finished the season with a 29-2 record. Davidson scored 31 points and pulled down nine rebounds in his last high school game. Both he and Pincheon were named to the All-State team for the second year in a row. After high school, Davidson attended Shoals Community College, making the All-Junior College All-Tournament team in 1993. He completed his undergraduate education at Faulkner and Athens State. He later earned three graduate degrees from Alabama A&M and taught at Buckhorn, Riverton, New Market and Central Middle School. He has been Buckhorns assistant principal since 2009. My mother and five older sisters were great role models," said Davidson. They supported me and instilled the importance of hard work and effort in everything I attempted." Among the other major influences in his life are his coaches, Stanley Stafford, Ollie Hayden and Jerry Lowry; his high school principal, Tommy Ledbetter; Sarah Fanning, his high school English teacher; his wife Carolyn and stepson, Trant Simpson. I couldnt have done what Ive done these last few years," he said, without Carolyns help and support."