The Legend of Legends, John Treadway

Published 12:39 am Tuesday, September 21, 2021

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BY C.Y. PETERS

    Democratic Governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats
Republican President Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory.  The Yankees
had won the World Series, and the United States consists of  48 states
when John Treadway began his coaching career. Raymond Range, Jack
Thompson, Aaron Sams, Roy Feathers, Ross “Taylor” Hughes, Charles and
Harley Verran, James Sheppard, and Jim Boring had signed up to play
basketball at Happy Valley High School for their new coach, John
Treadway.  Charlie Bayless was only nine years old at that time but
would go on to play for Coach Treadway in the 1940s and make his way to
two State Tournaments, including a second-place finish.
     When Treadway began coaching, they had to play their games outdoors
because they had no inside gym.  Finally, when a gym was built,  it
burned down.  Coach Treadway said, “I guess we just got too hot.”  One
of his famous quotes that stand true is “Anyone could win on any given
night in tournament play.”  Treadway won many District and Regional
titles and won the 1950 State Title. He coached many players who
received awards and went on to be coaches.  Treadway is in the TSSAA
Hall of Fame plus was one of the first inducted into the Carter County
Sports Hall of Fame.
     Treadway coached at Happy Valley for 19-years and Elizabethton for
23.  He was the winningest coach in the state for nearly twenty years,
until one of his players, Buck Van Huss became, and still is the TSSAA
winningest coach in basketball.  He retired in the early 1970s with 843
wins.  Van Huss went on to coach at Hampton for 17 years, winning the
1960 State Title and coach at Kingsport from 1968 until 1990.  He
finished with 1021 wins.
Coaches that would play for Coach Treadway:
Johnny Mills was an Elizabethton athlete who would go on to set records
at the University of Tennessee for many years in football.  Mills went
on to coach at Cawood High School in Kentucky.  Gary Elliot coached at
Elizabethton and T.A. Dugger. Bob Laws were at Elizabethton High and
Vanderbilt.
Richard Ensor coached at Keenburg before taking an assistant coaching
job at Tennessee High and became the director of the Arby’s Classic.
Larry Bowling coached at Unaka High and Unaka Elementary and was an
assistant coach on the 2004 TSSAA State Championship team.
Harold Stout coached at Milligan and ETSU, Dick Ryan was head coach at
Rich Valley in Virginia. Harold Ellis was at Elizabethton and T.A.
Dugger.  Kenny Hyder coached Jonesboro and Mary Hughes.
Don Marshall coached at Elizabethton.
Bobby Chambers was Sullivan East’s first basketball coach and, he
coached at Elizabethton, Tennessee High, Lynn View, Holston Valley, and
the University of Kentucky.
Cotton Hodge coached in Georgia and Johnny Taylor in Virginia. Steve
“Pink” McKinney coached at Johnson County, Unaka, Elizabethton, Copper
Basin, Cocke County, and Happy Valley.
Jimmy Hyder coached at Covington, Kentucky, Tommy Jenkins at
Elizabethton and, Sam Austin coached several high schools in Georgia and
Florida.
Johnny Goodwin coached at Chilhowie and Marion, Carl Gouge at Happy
Valley, and Mary Hughes.  Ted Maxwell coached at Happy Valley, Unaka,
and Elizabethton High.
Nick Hyder coached in Valdosta, Georgia, where he won three National
Titles.  He closed his career with 302 wins in football with only 48
losses.  He recorded six seasons without a loss.  He won seven state
titles and was Coach of the Year seven times.  In the 1980s, his teams
went 125-10, with his regular-season record at 86-4.  He helped coach
baseball and had recorded 124 wins and 67 losses with two state
championships.
Below is a list of a family tree of coaches Coach John Treadway, The
Legend of all Legends began way back in 1932.

If any coaches have been left off please contact me at peters5@charter.net.

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