2025 INDUCTEES
2025 Inductee Highlights
Rod Bass’s Career Highlights
The Austin basketball great was named MVP in the 1993 state tournament that saw the Black Bears take the Class 6A state championship. Bass scored 60 points in Austin’s three state tournament victories. The first-team All-State selection helped the champion Black Bears to a 30-3 record that season with two of the losses coming in overtime. Bass went on to star at Wallace State in Hanceville, where he set a season scoring record and then at Alabama A&M, where he played on the Bulldogs’ 1996 team that advanced to the NCAA’s Division II Elite Eight tournament
David Elwell’s Career Highlights
In a nearly 20-year career writing sports for The Decatur Daily that was split between 1981-1989 and 2013-2023, Elwell chronicled the sports scene in Morgan, Lawrence and Limestone counties with stories on high school champions, college champions and even Super Bowl champions. It was a suggestion by Elwell in a 1988 story that sparked the idea of a Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame. The idea has carried over to many other counties across the state and beyond. Elwell’s contributions to the Hall of Fame include many of the profiles that have honored the over 250 inductees.
Christy Ferguson’s Career Highlights
The Falkville basketball star scored 2,552 points in her six-year career on the varsity that ended in 1990. At the time Ferguson’s point total was the third highest in the state. Her all-time high was 52 points in a game during her junior season. Ferguson was twice named a first-team All-State selection. In 1987, Ferguson helped Falkville slug its way to a Class 1A-2A slow-pitch softball state championship. Her softball success continued as a coach at Hartselle. She was an assistant for state championships in 2000, 2002 and 2003. She was head coach for the Tigers’ state championship teams in 2014 and 2018.
Bob Godsey’s Career Highlights
When Godsey left Hartselle football following the 2018 season he was the program’s winningest coach with 141 wins in 16 seasons that included a state championship in 2011, 15 winning seasons, five region championships, six seasons with 10 or more victories and 25 All-State selections.
Marc Lewis’s Career Highlights
After starring in baseball at Decatur High and in college at Calhoun, Lewis was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 25th round of the 1994 draft. He played in the minor leagues for eight seasons with three different organizations, Red Sox, Braves and Twins. In 730 games, Lewis hit .282, stole 145 bases, slugged 69 home runs and scored 374 runs. In 1997, Lewis played for the Southern League champion Greenville Braves. He hit .273 with 21 stolen bases, 64 runs scored and 67 RBIs. After a knee injury ended his career, Lewis has remained close to the game as a private instructor.
Tanya Lybarger Childers’ Career Highlights
Success as a player and coach makes Childers one of the winningest individuals in Hartselle High history. She played three years of varsity basketball and made three trips to the state Final Four with state championships in 1984 and 1985. During her three seasons, the Tigers had a 62-game winning streak and were nationally ranked. Both Gatorade and USA Today named her the Alabama Player of the Year in 1986. After college, Childers returned to Hartselle and built a volleyball powerhouse that in 20 seasons won 1,101 matches, a state championship in 2013 and made nine appearances in the final four.
Hamil Martin’s Career Highlights
The 1959 Austinville graduate closed out his high school career as a three-time basketball state champion. Martin was an all-county, all-district and all-state guard selection for the Hornets led by Hall of Fame coach Earl Morris. Martin’s play in the 1959 state tournament earned him a scholarship to Troy University where he lettered four years in both basketball and baseball. He helped Troy win two conference championships while earning two all-conference selections in basketball. In 1963, Martin received the prestigious Kilpatrick Award that honors Troy’s top senior athlete.
Don Widner’s Career Highlights
In 1979, Widner embarked on a side career as a high school official that has now crossed the 40-year mark for both basketball and football. In 2000, the National Federation Officials Association named Widner the Alabama football official of the year. The Alabama High School Athletic Association honored Widner in 2020 with the Greg Brewer Distinguished Service Award. Widner has worked numerous playoff games in both sports, including six football state championship games. He continues to help the game working instruction camps and serving as an officer in several officials’ associations.