Life is a game; Basketball is Serious: Jim Wilcoxson

I, like Joe, grew up wanting to be a Bobcat. I had an uncle, James Henry Hankins, who died while playing football for the Bobcats in 1938. My grandfather, Henry Hankins, watched nearly every practice and every game Childress played in all sports. He started taking me with him to practices when I was in the third grade. My first heroes were not Superman, Roy Rogers, or Gene Autry, but Bobcat ball players—Lindley Davis, LaNoel Castleberry, Derrell Nippert, F.A. Davis, and Tom Higley.

My first year to play youth basketball which was called Kids Inc. in Childress, Tom Higley was my coach. I was in the second grade and all of the boys on the team were two to three years older than I was. Some of my teammates were Hugh Gayle Frith, LeRoy Black, and Brian and Gary McBrayer. I was clueless! My dad told me I would stand in one spot and just jump up and down. The next year Tom was still my coach, but my teammates were my age. It was the third grade that started the friendship with teammates Joe Don Hopkins, and Bobby Huff that lasted through our senior year. We had a great time playing ball, and I remember our Shetland League team, the Fabulous Robins, was undefeated and in our minds the greatest team of all time

My sophomore year we tied Spearman for the district championship and had a playoff with them at Shamrock. We had a big team so Spearman played a zone and just packed it in. Coach Warren started me in the playoff game because I was supposed to be able to shoot from the perimeter. Sure enough on the first possession, I brought the ball down and Spearman didn’t have a player much higher than the free throw line. Naturally, I shot. I air balled it! I mean it hit nothing! I glanced at the bench on the way back down on defense and Coach Warren had his head in his hands, like, “what have I done.” Fortunately, we went on and won the game—no thanks to me, I might add. Bob Foard, Jerry Harmon, Homer McGaugh, and John Manual were seniors on that team. Juniors were Travis McCain, James Self, and Jim Hamm.

Our junior year we had a really talented team with the potential to be a factor at the state level, but we had some key injuries. I missed nearly every district game because of an Achilles tendon injury. It was the most disappointing thing that happened to me in all my athletic career. James Self, Glen Beal, Michie King, Jim Hamm,and Travis McCain were the seniors on the team, and the juniors were Bob Huff, Darrell Manuel, Johnny Thornton, Ronnie Lawrence, Joe Hopkins, and myself.

Our senior year, we won 19 games and lost 6. We finished second in district to Seymour who had a truly big talented team. Joe Don, Bobby , Johnny Thornton, Ronnie Lawrence, Reed Lockhoof, Phil Tudor, and I were the seniors on the team, and even though we had a good team, we lacked the height that was needed to beat Seymour.

I have a hard time remembering many games or scores, but I do remember the relationships that were built. I was blessed to have many fine friends and teammates while playing basketball. Joe Don and Bobby were close to me during that time. We had played together since the third grade. We spent many an hour after practice just getting in a little extra shooting practice and hanging out as the kids would say today.

Joe Don and I were talking a couple of days before Christmas. We remember that one of the great things about Childress was that we were all the same. We didn’t notice what we wore, where we lived, what we drove, and nobody had a clue or cared how much your daddy had. I feel like God really blessed me to let me live in Childress, be a Bobcat and have friends and teammates like Joe Don and Bobby.

I feel blessed to have had Joe Warren as a coach. Coach wasn’t much older than his team, but he did a great job of coaching us and we won more games than our talent would indicate. But what I really appreciated about Coach Warren was that he made basketball fun. I enjoyed going to the gym whether it was a game or practice. He treated us with respect and my decision to become a coach was due in large part to the positive experience I had playing high school basketball. I have re-established contact with Coach over the last few years. We have had a great time playing golf and visiting—usually telling Childress stories.