About Inductee

Heres a good head-scratcher for your next sports trivia party: Who are the top two scorers in the history of mens college basketball? Bonus question: Where did they play in college? Hint: Dont say Pete Maravich; freshmen werent eligible for the varsity when Pete played at LSU. Take all the time you need. Give up? Go ask Bob Ford, one of tonights inductees into the Huntsville- Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame. He knows both answers. Yeah, I know about those guys," Ford said. The first one came in as a freshman my senior year at Lipscomb, and the second came along when the first one graduated." The first was Philip Hutcheson, now the athletic director at Lipscomb University, a private church school in Nashville. Hutcheson smashed the national record by scoring 4,106 points for the Bisons from 1987-90. Four years later, Lipscombs John Pierce (1991-94) finished his career with 4,230 points. Both are still in the record book as the 1-2 scorers of all time. What are the odds? Bob Fords own basketball career at Lipscomb wasnt shabby either. A native of Huntsville, Ford was a 2-time All-City basketball player in 1982 and 1983 at Johnson High School. He was named the citys MVP in basketball as a senior after averaging 18 points and 7 rebounds and leading the Jaguars to the semifinals of the state tournament. After high school, he and teammate Anthony Jones signed with Lipscomb to play for coach Don Meyer, who was in the midway point of what would become a legendary career. A 4-year starter and the team captain as a senior, Ford was the sparkplug of Meyers NAIA national championship team in 1986. In both high school and college," noted Ford, I was lucky to play for a couple of head coaches who turned into legends." His coach at Johnson was current James Clemens coach Danny Petty, who has won state championships at three different schools Johnson in 1987, Madison Academy in 2006, and Bob Jones in 2010. After Fords senior season, Petty and Grissom coach Ronnie Stapler helped steer Ford to Lipscomb. I was young and shy and a little nervous when I got to Lipscomb," said Ford. It was a different environment because there werent many African Americans on campus at that time. I wasnt used to that. I wasnt used to going to chapel every day, either. But once I settled in and saw how Coach Meyer treated everybody like we were his own family, I was fine. Next to my father, Coach Meyer probably influenced me in a positive way more than anybody else I ever met, not just in basketball but also in the way a person should live his life. He was demanding and let you know that he expected your best every day. The ones who took advantage of what he was saying have all been successful in life." Meyer, who died in 2014 at the age of 69, compiled a 923-324 record in 38 years as a head coach, first at Hamline College in Minnesota, then Lipscomb, then at Northern State in South Dakota. His won-loss mark currently stands as the fifth best in the history of mens collegiate basketball. Hes primarily remembered for his 25 seasons at Lipscomb, where his teams went 655-179 from 1975-1999. During Fords time at Lipscomb, the Bisons were 30-5, 25-9, 35-4, and 27-6. What stands out to me about Coach Meyer was how hard he worked and how hard he expected us to work," said Ford. He believed anybody could achieve nearly anything if they worked hard and stayed humble." As for Bob Ford, he returned to Huntsville after his college days, got married, started a family, and went to work for Walmart nearly 28 years ago. Hes now the manager of the Walmart Supercenter near the corner of South Memorial Parkway and Hobbs Island Road. I try my best to incorporate into my job all the things I learned from Coach Meyer and all the things I learned at Lipscomb things like serving others, looking to God for answers, being accountable, not making excuses, and trying to make the world a better place," said Ford. He lives by those same bedrock principles in his family life. A prime example: In addition to their own two children, Ford and his wife, Sylvia, also mentored and helped raise their nephew, Wayne Madkin, from the age of 10. Madkin played quarterback at Johnson High School and later at Mississippi State University, where he was a 4-year starter for coach Jackie Sherrill from 1998-2001.