7 minute read
Basketball Briefs
Eddie Owens shared stories
Eddie Owens, 69, died Sept. 19, 2022, in Lubbock. Services were Sept. 26 at First United Methodist Church in Lubbock.
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Owens was born in Silverton to Gaston and Lottie (Vaughan) Owens, on Aug. 30, 1953. His faith was his foundation, and he led his life modeling Jesus’ example of serving others.
He earned a master’s degree in mass communications, with a public relations con- Eddie Owens centration, from the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University. In 2011, he was honored as an Outstanding Alumnus by the college. He also had a bachelor’s degree in political science and speech from Wayland Baptist University. He received the Wayland Distinguished Service Alumni Award in 2009.
He married Lynn Blodgett Owens, on March 22, 1997, and she stood by, supported and encouraged him every day of their 25 years. His daughter, Kami, inherited the world’s best “bonus mom.” Eddie and Lynn’s world would forever change and be brighter with the birth of “Katie Scarlett” (as known by her Pop Pop), Kami’s daughter and their grandchild.
Second to the love of his family was his passion for storytelling, especially if it involved sports. It is said that if you find a job you love, you never feel like you are working. Eddie hit a home run in his professional life.
His first job after graduation was telling the stories of Wayland Baptist University, where he was director of public relations and taught mass communication courses. He then was a sports reporter and editor for the Plainview Daily Herald, where he wrote the “first draft” of many historical sporting events.
Moving to Lubbock, Owens joined St. Mary of the Plains Hospital as director of community relations and later served as director of marketing and public relations for Covenant Health Systems. Later, he was director of communications for United Supermarkets. He was honored with the American Advertising Federation’s silver award in 2012 by the Lubbock chapter.
From the merger of St. Mary’s and Methodist hospitals, which created Covenant Health System, to the United Supermarkets centennial anniversary, Owens was in the center of the action, crafting stories and sharing messages.
He served on the board of several nonprofit organizations, including Hospice of Lubbock, South Plains Kidney Foundation, Lubbock ISD Foundation for Excellence, Lubbock Area United Way, the Lubbock Chapter of the American Red Cross and Volunteer Center of Lubbock.
Owens is survived by his wife, Lynn; daughter, Kami Bedford, and son-in-law, Brandon Bedford; granddaughter, Scarlett Kate Bedford; sister-in-law, Shirley Henderson; nephew, Wayne Henderson and his family; niece, Sonya Bitner and her family; sisters-in-law Sue O’Connor, Jan Blodgett, and Lori Parham; and nieces Wendy Forrest and her family and Melissa Parham.
He was proceeded in death by his parents; parents-in-law, Dolphus and Lou Blodgett; brother,Dwain Henderson; nephew, Zane Henderson; sister-in-law, Teresa Blodgett; and a host of cousins and countless friends from all corners of the world.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Lubbock Area United Way, Hospice of Lubbock or Morris Safe House.
Basketball Briefs
Coach Jeff Evans’ Palo Duro teams have had several recent players go on to play basketball in college.
Graduates from 2022 include Cutter Camp, who chose Arlington Baptist, where former Texas Tech star Bubba Jennings is the coach. An assistant coach is Tony Starnes, who was Clarendon College’s head coach for 14 years.
Paetyn Walker, another 2022 graduate, is playing at Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Oklahoma. Classmate Kadden Price is at Frank Phillips College.
Other recent Palo Duro players are Jalen Thomas at Tarleton State, where former Division I coach Billy Gillespie is the head man, Thaddeus Udoh and Bonaventure Udoh, both at Wayland Baptist, And Akeul Kot at Fort Lewis, where he was first-team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last year.
Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath was the leading scorer in Canada last season at Trinity Western University and has signed a professional contract in Sicily. • • •
Camryn Armes, who played on two Gruver Class 2A state championship teams, signed to play basketball at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. The 5-7 guard overcame surgery for hip dysplasia to help lead the Lady Hounds to the 2022 state title. Because of her physical ordeal, she was named the 2022 recipient of the Dee Henry Award from the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame.
The NCAA Division III Hardin-Simmons Cowgirls won their first American Southwest Conference championship since 2004 last season with a 21-5 record. • • •
Two Monterey players have signed to play in college. Aiden Castillo chose Howard Payne University in Brownwood, and Vyson Miller signed with William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri.
Malikih Gillum of River Road is on the roster as a freshman at Howard Payne. • • •
Two Caprock players signed in April to play collegiately. Tommy Watley connected with Wayland Baptist, and Yel Deeng signed with Clarendon College. • • •
Glenn Youngkin, who was elected governor of Virginia a year ago, played basketball in Texas at Rice University.
The 55-year-old Republican, whose father Carroll Wayne
Basketball News
(Continued from previous page)
Youngkin played basketball at Duke University, competed four seasons at Rice, totaling 82 points and 67 rebounds. The roster listed his height at 6-7. He graduated in 1990 with bachelor’s degrees in managerial studies and mechanical engineering, then earned an MBA in 1994 at the Harvard Business School. • • •
Becca Whittle Wilhite, who played for the Wayland Flying Queens from 1996 to 2000 and received the Dr. Leroy Walker Sportsmanship Award from the NAIA in 1999, recently was inducted into the Gatesville High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
She was first-team TABC All-State as a Gatesville senior and second team as a junior. She is the all-time leading scorer in school history with 1,935 points. She taught and coached in Plainview for eight years and now works in the financial services/ insurance field. • • •
Kyle Bean, who stepped down as the New Deal boys coach after the 2017-18 season to work as an assistant to the new head coach, his son Kyler Bean, has retired from coaching, according to his son.
Kyle Bean compiled a record of 606-302 in his 33-year head coaching career, all at New Deal. Kyler Bean’s assistant coach is Dillon Moats. • • •
Vivian Gray, the Argyle product who received All-American honors and was All-Big 12 four times – twice at Oklahoma State and twice at Texas Tech – signed a free agent contract in April with the Phoenix Mercury of the NBA but was waived a few weeks later.
The 6-1 Gray also was all-conference her freshman year at Division II Fort Lewis State. Before completing her career at Tech, she reached the 2,000-point mark for her Division I career and the 2,500-point mark for her entire college career. She averaged 20.2 points and 5.3 rebounds her senior season as a Lady Raider. • • •
Walt Howard, who retired in January 2022 after 40 years as a reporter and news anchor at KFDA-TV in Amarillo, is mentioned in Basketball News because … he played basketball at Amarillo High.
Howard graduated from AHS in 1975 and was inducted into the Sandie Hall of Fame in 2021 for his news career, not for basketball. But he wasn’t through with the sport after AHS. His son Aric told KFDA’s Cassie Stafford, “I played basketball as a kid and he had to work in the evenings, but he’d come out to coach basketball practice. He’d be in his suit, and we all thought we were NBA players because on TV, all their coaches always wore a suit.”
Roger the dribbler
Many people know that Roger Staubach played football at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell for season during the 1960-61 school year. He set a school record for passing yards and accounted for 18 touchdowns.
It took Amarillo sports researcher Mike Higgins to dig up a box score showing that Staubach also played basketball at NMMI. In a game when the military school deThis box score from the Amarillo GlobeNews shows that Roger Staubach, the feated Amarillo College legendary Dallas Cowboy quarterback, 81-53, Roger the Dodger not only played football at New Mexico scored 15 points on 6 of 14 field goal shooting and 3 Military Institute but scored in basketball against Amarillo College. free throws. He committed 2 personal fouls against the Badgers. High point for NMMI was Roger Ronner with 32 followed by Douglas Law with 16.
Richard Barker was the top scorer for AC with 9 points.
Staubach also played baseball during his year in Roswell before transferring to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he won the 1963 Heisman Trophy. In the NFL, he played 11 seasons at quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, leading them to five Super Bowls and winning Super Bowls VI and XII. He was the MVP of Super Bowl VI, making him the first of four players to win the Heisman and a Super Bowl MVP award.
