Jerome Woolsey never backed down from a good challenge.
Although North Greene High has always been a small school in terms of enrollment, the Huskies of the 1970s and 1980s never shied away from taking on an opponent with a much larger student body.
And Coach Woolsey, after an education career that spanned some 32 years which included 27 years in coaching at North Greene, logged 385 victories to show for his efforts.
There'll be a celebration at North Greene on Friday night as the school and community will honor the long-time coach by naming the school's gymnasium in his honor. There's not much of a higher honor for a coach. You can look around East Tennessee and probably count on one hand the number of high school gyms that bear the name of a coach.
Woolsey coached 27 years at North Greene, 24 of them as head coach of the Huskies. While his claim to fame was on the basketball floor, his coaching duties also included softball, baseball and an assistant in football. After leaving his coaching duties, he stayed on staff for another five years as a teacher before retirement.
Although the Huskies for a number of years competed in the Watauga Conference, against schools which were traditionally larger in enrollment, Woolsey chalked up four regional championships and two state tournament trips during his tenure. There were three other chances for a state trip, but those plans ended with a loss in Sub-State.
Woolsey's 1990 team, which ended the year with a season record of 31-4, made it to the final four of the state and would have to be considered one of the school's most successful teams ever. They beat Richland in the first round of the Class A state tournament before losing to Clarkrange in the semis.
I still have the state tournament program from that year. (Yeah, I'm a pack rat, and I never throw away anything.) David McLain, now principal at North Greene, was a member of that squad as a sophomore. Other team members were seniors 6-5 Arnold Loftis (who coached for four years at North Greene after Woolsey departed and is now a teacher/coach at Baileyton), Nathan Reynolds, Brumley Mathes and Jerry Jones. Clay Self was a junior. Sophomores, in addition to McLain, were James Smith, 6-5 Chuck Johnson, Chris Cobble and Jessie Crawford. Toby Gaby was a freshman on the team.
The 1992 team was Woolsey's last state tournament contingent. That team went 22-12 in winning the regional over Oakdale and Sub-State at home against Lookout Valley. But they ran into a 7-footer by the name of Stevie Hamer from Middleton, who went on to star at the University of Tennessee, and lost in the first round of the state.
According to the state tourney program, the North Greene roster that year included seniors David McLain, Chuck Johnson, James Smith, Chris Cobble and Jessee Crawford; juniors Jamie Young, Brian Jones and Toby Gaby; and sophomores Wes Pierce, Gabe Vaught and Charlie Littleton; plus freshman Ben Woolsey.
The 1988 North Greene team went 24-11 and was one of the school's most talented, but they lost to Loudon at home in Sub-State in a 63-62 thriller. That lineup included the likes of Loftis, Wes Bolton, Chad Pierce, Ken Bailey and the Malone twins, Marvin and Martin.
The 1985 squad managed only a 16-16 record, but was very good with big men David Williams and Ronnie Gudger. Their downfall was the fact they had to go on the road to Austin-East for Sub-State, and that was the end of the road.
The 1977 team also made it to Sub-State in the days that Sub-State was played at a neutral site. They lost to Maryville Porter in a game played at Sevier County. Despite my pack rat ways, I couldn't come up with a summary from that season.
There'll be a lot of reminiscing Friday night, as the school has put out a call for any former player under Coach Woolsey to come to the gym for the dedication ceremony. There'll be a reception at the school starting at 4 p.m. for former players to meet with and chat with their former coach.
It's a nice honor for Coach Woolsey. And an honor that is most deserved.
