Kentucky coaching legend joins 1,000-win club. He almost never had one.

Billy Hicks is the first Kentuckian to win 1,000 high school basketball games.

As far as Scott County’s boys’ basketball coach is concerned, it happened in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Dec. 28, when the Cardinals defeated Cox Mill (S.C.) in the quarterfinals of the Beach Ball Classic. To the Kentucky High School Athletic Association — holders of the official record book — Hicks will earn his 1,000th victory as a head coach when Scott County wins its next game; that could be as soon as Thursday, when the Cardinals travel to Frederick Douglass.

Scott County defeated Douglass, 86-44, at home in December. Even if the Broncos pull off an upset, it seems a matter of when, not if, Hicks will be a 1,000-win coach in the eyes of anyone who’s keeping track.

Hicks five years ago lost a dispute over his career record that mostly centered around his first season as a head coach — 1978-79 — at Evarts High School. The KHSAA, citing Associated Press articles, determined that the 10 wins from that season should not be counted. Hicks has long contended that the “ineligible player” that led to the forfeiture was, in fact, eligible, and only played in one game during that 26-game season.

Leta Andrews, a retired Texas girls’ coach, owns the national high school record with 1,416 wins. Robert Hughes, also of Texas, has the boys’ record with 1,333 wins. Hicks will be (or is) the 19th boys’ basketball coach in U.S. history to amass 1,000 or more victories, according to records kept by the National Federation of High Schools.

There’s an alternate universe where Billy Hicks never reaches a single coaching win, let alone 1,000. Hicks amid political unrest in Harlan County resigned after his debut season and was content with never taking to the sidelines again. He made better money in the coal mines in a couple of weeks than he did for an entire season coaching basketball.

“I thought, what do I need this for? I was traveling and playing softball all over the country with my brother,” Hicks said in a phone interview this week with the Herald-Leader. “We were fishing on Cherokee Lake every weekend.”

Hicks returned to Evarts in the 1981-82 season as a favor to his best friend, David Lewis, when he got the principal job at their alma mater. He coached there for two seasons — and taught a mining and safety class at the school — before taking over at rival Harlan for three seasons. Hicks in 1986 moved to Corbin, where he reached his first Sweet Sixteen during an eight-year tenure.

He took over at Scott County in the 1994-95 school year and has enjoyed a dynastic run. The Cardinals have played in 12 state tournaments in Hicks’ time with the program (they had four appearances previously). He coached back-to-back Mr. Basketball winners in 1999 (Rick Jones) and 2000 (Scott Hundley) and has coached in five state championship games, winning twice (1998 and 2007).

A third Mr. Basketball winner (Michael Moreno) and state title are not out of the question for Scott County, which entering the week was rated No. 1 in every major state ranking and hadn’t lost to a Kentucky opponent. Moreno has been sidelined with a foot injury that will keep him off the court for at least a couple more weeks, but the Cardinals in his absence have managed to pull off some harrowing wins over some of the state’s other top programs.

Those were as special as any other, but none hold a candle to the 10 that don’t (officially) count.

“I know to (the KHSAA) that it doesn’t matter,” Hicks said. “But they didn’t coach that team. I worked those kids, that first team I coached, I worked those kids harder than any team I’ve coached in my life. Those 10 wins were unbelievably hard to win ‘cause we had a half a point and half a rebound coming back. … And then he quit on me. So we started with nothing.”

Coal mining injuries and drug-related incidents have prematurely ended the lives of “probably a third” of the boys who played for Hicks in that 1978-79 season, he said.

“It rips my heart out when they say it doesn’t matter,” Hicks said. “Because it does.”

Hicks for about two minutes straight reflected on all the parties who’ve been involved in his success.

“This isn’t my award, and I’ve said that from day one. It’s a cumulative thing,” Hicks said. “It’s every kid that’s ever played for me, every assistant coach, every administrator, everybody I’ve been around. You, Mike Fields, everybody’s had a hand in that. The only reason it’s labeled under me is they have to file it somewhere and I’m the only one who was there for every one of ’em. ...

“Hundreds of ‘em, hundreds of ’em, and not the least my wife and family. God, what I’ve had to put them through coaching ball and everything. It’s something, counting eastern and central Kentucky, that a big part of Kentucky could and should be proud of. It wasn’t me. I was just part of the equation. ... That through this system, a kid whose mom and dad never went to school could be able to achieve that in Kentucky high school basketball and be part of that? That’s really something that we all can hang our hats on. It shows other kids out there if somebody like Billy Hicks can do it, gosh, there’s dozens of ’em out there that can do it, ya know?”

If there’s any bit of selfish pleasure Hicks might take regarding the record, it would be that a man from the mountains was able to climb the mountain first. While his records were being examined under a microscope a half-decade ago, Hicks received multiple anonymous letters from opposing parties that addressed him as “Hillbilly Hicks.” He enjoyed them.

“I thought, gosh, that’s a pretty good honor,” Hicks said. “I hadn’t been called a hillbilly in a long time.”

Billy Hicks’ year-by-year record

1978-2017 as listed by the “Kentucky High School Basketball Encyclopedia: 100th Anniversary Edition”; 2017-18 as listed on KHSAA.org

(x-district tournament champion; y-region tournament champion; z-state champion)

EVARTS

1978-79: 0-26

1979-80: Did not coach

1980-81: Did not coach

1981-82: 14-13

1982-83: 20-10 (x)

HARLAN

1983-84: 14-12

1984-85: 22-9

1985-86: 23-9

CORBIN

1986-87: 13-13

1987-88: 26-6

1988-89: 29-6 (x)

1989-90: 31-5 (x)

1990-91: 28-7 (xy)

1991-92: 31-5 (x)

1992-93: 30-6 (x)

1993-94: 31-4 (x)

SCOTT COUNTY

1994-95: 27-6 (xy)

1995-96: 25-9 (xy)

1996-97: 23-7 (x)

1997-98: 34-3 (xyz)

1998-99: 36-2 (xy)

1999-00: 31-5 (xy)

2000-01: 24-6 (x)

2001-02: 26-5 (x)

2002-03: 18-8

2003-04: 28-7 (xy)

2004-05: 27-4 (x)

2005-06: 26-5 (x)

2006-07: 34-2 (xyz)

2007-08: 20-12

2008-09: 28-4 (x)

2009-10: 29-7 (xy)

2010-11: 23-6 (x)

2011-12: 34-5 (xy)

2012-13: 24-8 (x)

2013-14: 35-4 (xy)

2014-15: 17-12

2015-16: 29-6

2016-17: 31-6 (xy)

2017-18: 37-2 (xy)

2018-19: 21-1 (as of Jan. 24)

Evarts total: 34-49 (40.9 win percentage)

Harlan total: 59-30 (66.3 win percentage)

Corbin total: 219-52 (80.8 win percentage)

Scott County total: 687-142 (82.9 win percentage as of Jan. 24)

Career total: 999-273 (78.5 career win percentage)