Fame .
As Carlisle accepted his award , Mayor Clay asked him what made him interested in sports . Carlisle then showed the crowd his dance card from his eighth grade prom that took place soon after he had moved to Athens .
He spoke of how the reality of only having one girl sign up to dance with him out of 14 songs made him realize “ this social thing ’ s not going very well and I probably don ’ t have a lot of time on my hands so I ’ ll just play some sports .”
Tommy Bowman ’ s past is so incredible that sports journalist Chad S . Conine is finishing a biography about Bowman and is using the Hall of Fame award evening as the epilogue to the book .
Bowman attended Fisher High School from 7-11 grades , where he was a strong student and excellent athlete , playing football , basketball and pole vaulting . Athens schools integrated in 1966 , which meant Bowman ’ s senior year was at Athens High School , where he played football and basketball ,
One wintry night that year , Baylor University assistant men ’ s basketball coach , Carroll Dawson , stopped in Athens to fuel up . He began to visit with the gas station attendant , and the conversation quickly turned to basketball . Coach Dawson told the attendant he would be hitting the recruiting trails the next day .
The attendant told Dawson he needed to look no further than Tommy Bowman . Dawson took directions to the Bowman home , where he met a 6-foot-4 phenom who
could do anything he was called on to do with a basketball .
Bowman ’ s original plans after graduating from AHS didn ’ t include playing college ball , but he told the crowd “ It ’ s all about God and it still is all about God .” Bowman became Baylor University ’ s first ever African-American scholarship student-athlete .
Coach Dawson was present at the induction , along with two of Bowman ’ s Baylor teammates : David Sibley and Tom Stanton .
Bowman played three varsity seasons at Baylor as a starting forward — at that time freshmen had to play on the freshman team . He led the Bears in scoring once and in rebounding twice , and twice earned first-team All-Southwest Conference honors .
He still ranks among Baylor ’ s top-10 in career rebounds per game and career double-doubles . Bowman has been inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame .
In 1956 four young men from Athens High School claimed the UIL 1A State Championship Golf Team title . They were Gene Robinson , Frank Duphorne , John Lively and Billy Lively . Gene Robinson was the state medalist and he recalls that Athens already had a good team , but when the Lively brothers arrived , their accomplishments on the golf course multiplied .
This excerpt from an Athens Daily Review sports column describes the team : “ The powerful
Athens Hornet golfers , leading their nearest oppo-
8 | Greater Athens Magazine | January 2023