RRS NOTES: Turner Memorial Golf Tourney set for Sept. 1; Success Unlimited's Willis earns scholarship
By TIM GAYLE
The 23rd annual Kevin Turner Golf Tournament will be played on Sept. 1 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Capitol Hill, Prattville YMCA officials announced.
The tournament has become a popular fixture in the late spring, but concern over the coronavirus pandemic forced the move to later in the summer and a search for a new guest host after Sylvester Croom withdrew from the event.
“We are extremely disappointed that we are not going to be able to stay with our original date and that Coach Croom is not going to be able to host our event,” said Prattville YMCA Assistant General Director Keith Cantrell, who initiated the tournament in 1998. “Through the entire process, he was so cooperative but due to real health concerns, it’s in his best interest not to participate. But he’s already committed to next year’s event.”
Croom, an All-American center at Alabama under Paul “Bear” Bryant and a Crimson Tide assistant coach for 11 years under Bryant and successor Ray Perkins, was the chief recruiter of Turner before following Perkins to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in January, 1987. The 65-year-old retiree, now living in Mobile, coached with eight teams in the National Football League over a 25-year career, interrupted by a five-year stint as the head coach at Mississippi State in 2004-08.
Turner, a Prattville native who starred at Alabama and in the NFL for eight years, loaned his name to the tournament after participating in sports at the YMCA in his early years. He attended the event on an annual basis before his battle with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, led to his untimely passing in March, 2016.
He made a brief appearance at the 2015 tournament with guest host Gary Hollingsworth, a former Alabama quarterback and teammate of Turner. After Turner’s death, the Turner family was honored as the second guest host. Former Tide tailback Siran Stacy was the guest host in 2017, Antonio Langham and Andrew Zow served as co-hosts in 2018 and Sherman Williams served last year.
A search for a new host in 2020 is under way after the tournament was moved from its originally scheduled date of June 15.
“We have rescheduled the event for Tuesday, Sept. 1, with a guest host to be announced,” Cantrell said. “Although we’re disappointed, we feel this is the right thing to do for everyone concerned.”
The proceeds from the tournament help fund the Coach A Child campaign, which provides financial aid to make YMCA services available to all persons regardless of their inability to pay.
The golf tournament is in its fifth year at RTJ Capitol Hill after spending the first 18 years at the Prattville Country Club.
Individuals or businesses wishing to serve as sponsors of the tournament or to sign up your team to participate in the tournament can contact Cantrell at (334) 358-9622 or e-mail him at kcantrell@prattvilleymca.org.
Success Unlimited star Willis earns scholarship
The Success Unlimited Academy three-sport star Robert Willis has earned a baseball scholarship from Xavier University of Louisiana.
“It’s a blessing to go somewhere and actually fulfill my dream,” Willis said. “And it’s a blessing to get an offer without even playing my senior year. The work was put in for years to become what I am today. I’m just thankful.”
Former Alabama State baseball star Adrian Holloway had coached the past several years at Selma University until that school disbanded its athletic program in 2019. Holloway was hired in January to help Xavier, an HBCU Catholic school in New Orleans, revive its athletic program in 2020-21 at the NAIA level.
The Gold Rush last played baseball in 1960.
“The offer came in April and my coach was telling me about it,” Willis said. “I talked to my grandmother about it and she was saying it sounded like a good idea because I hadn’t played my senior year.”
It sounded like a good idea to Success Unlimited athletic director Bill Granger as well. Granger served as the Mustangs’ baseball coach in 2017 and remembers Willis as a freshman who pitched and played shortstop, center field and catcher.
Catholic assistant Barnett hired by Huntingdon
Dennis Barnett only worked at Catholic as an assistant football coach for four years, but his work in developing players for college football and for life in general convinced Huntingdon College coach Mike Turk he needed Barnett on his coaching staff.
Catholic coach Aubrey Blackwell confirmed the departure of Barnett in late April, but Turk waited until June 1 to officially announce the hiring.
“He’s a special guy, to us, for a lot of reasons,” Turk said. “First and foremost, he was our first All-American in our football program’s history and really kind of opened the door for some other guys who have been recognized since then.
“A couple of years ago, when that position was available, his was the first name that came to my mind but he was not that far removed from playing for us and I didn’t think was quite ready for the responsibility at that point. But I certainly had no hesitation in identifying him as a guy we wanted to hire. I didn’t interview anybody else.”
Barnett, a star outside linebacker at Jeff Davis, moved to the defensive line at Huntingdon under longtime line coach Landius Wilkerson, now at Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Turk was looking for someone who exhibited the same qualities as Wilkerson, who also served as the Hawks’ recruiting coordinator.
“I knew how (Barnett) had been coached when he had played for us,” Turk said, “and that was important to me because I want the kids that are in our program now to be coached the same way he was. He understood that it was way more than football.
“When I talked to folks that had played for him at Catholic and to people that had worked with him there, all they did was confirm what I already knew, that he had been raised right, that he had not forgotten how he was coached and that he was coaching his guys the same way. And that’s number one with me. The football stuff will take care of itself.”
Blackwell didn’t have to look far for Barnett’s replacement. He chose another Huntingdon All-American defensive lineman in Heath McCray.
“Heath was on my staff in 2017,” Blackwell said. “He coached linebackers that year even though he played defensive end at Huntingdon. He helped Caleb Ross at Prattville last year and now he’s going to fill in Dennis Barnett’s spot. I’m really excited about what Heath will bring to our program.”
McCray earned All-American honors at Huntingdon in 2015, then got into professional football overseas. He served for one year as a volunteer assistant at Catholic, then went to France to play for the Catalans Grizzlys. He completed his playing career in 2019 and returned to the area but Catholic had no coaching vacancies so he joined the Prattville High staff as a volunteer for that season.