Former Conecuh County coach to be inducted into Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame

Twelve major contributors to prep athletics in Alabama have been selected to the 25^th class of the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame, including former Conecuh County Training School basketball coach Steve Jefferson.

The 2015 class, which includes coaches, administrators, officials, media and an “oldtimer,” will be inducted at a special Silver Anniversary banquet commemorating all 25 years of the Hall of Fame at the Renaissance Hotel at the Convention Center in Montgomery on March 23.

Joining Jefferson in the class of inductees are tennis coach Nancy Becker, basketball coaches Jack Doss and Bobby Wright, football coaches Steve Rivers, Doug Goodwin and John Tatum, athletic director Myra Miles, track official Houston Young, and administrators Alan Mitchell and Ron Ingram. Selected in the “Old Timer” category was longtime Geneva County football coach James D. Chesteen.

Jefferson, age 76, graduated from Escambia County Training School in 1958 and from Alabama State University in 1962. Jefferson went on to coach at Conecuh County Training School in Evergreen from 1965 to 1968 with one trip to the AIAA state tournament during that time.

The highly respected boys basketball coach went on to record over 650 career wins in his 31-year career at Carver High School in Birmingham. He led the Rams to back-to-back Class 4A state championships in 1978 and 1979 – playing before the largest high school crowd in the AHSAA’s state tournament history at Coleman Coliseum against Parker in the 1978 finals. His Carver teams also reached the state finals three more times (1983, 1997 & 1998). 

He served as an assistant coach on Carver’s 1981 Class 4A state runner-up team. He was head football coach at Birmingham’s Ullman High School for one year.

He was named Birmingham City Schools Coach of the Year 10 times, the Birmingham Tip-Off Club Coach of the Year twice (1979 and 1998) and received the Frank Nix Distinguished Service Award in 1998 presented by the Tip Off Club. He was named Birmingham Times Coach of the Year four times. 

The 18-member Hall of Fame Committee made the selections from the 50 nominations on the Hall of Fame ballot. The Hall of Fame is located at the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) office in Montgomery.

Sponsors of the Hall of Fame program are the Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association (AHSADCA) and the AHSAA. The corporate sponsors are Cadence Bank, Coca-Cola, EBSCO Media, Encore Rehabilitation, Farmers Insurance, Russell Athletic, TeamIP and Wilson Sporting Goods.

To order tickets ($35 each), mail requests along with check or money order (payable to AHSADCA) to: Alabama High School Athletic Directors & Coaches Association, P. O. Box 242367, Montgomery, AL 36124. Additional information is available at 334-263-6994.