This is an opinion article.
As we head into 2024 in the next few days, here are some of the hottest high school news in Alabama in 2023.
There were big wins, big coaching hires, winning streaks ended, and some tragic losses.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 high school stories of 2023.
10. Hazel green six pack
date: March 4th
The Hazel Green girls basketball team won its sixth consecutive state title, defeating Huffman 53-40 in the Class 6A championship game at BJCC Legacy Arena. The Trojans became the first basketball team, boys or girls, to win six consecutive state championships. Earlier this year, Tim Miller’s team broke the AHSAA girls’ winning streak with 87. The Trojans finished the year with a record of 36 wins and one loss.
9. Hoover Baseball Coach Misses Season
date: January 18th
The AHSAA’s central governing board has denied Hoover High School’s appeal that would have allowed baseball coach Adam Moseley to lead the Bucs in 2023. Moseley was one of the coaches for the USA Baseball Under-18 National Team in September 2022. The gold medal-winning team included one of Hoover’s athletes. According to the AHSAA bylaws drafted and voted into law by member schools, coaches in any sport may not coach players in out-of-season games during the school year. The violation occurred because the match was held in September. If this happens, “the student or the offending coach will be ineligible to compete in the sport in which the violation occurred during that school season,” according to the AHSAA rulebook. Indeed, Moseley missed the entire 2023 season. He is scheduled to return to the Bucks’ bench in 2024.
8. Star players in action
date: various
Multiple notable high school football players transferred before or during the 2023 season. The most high-profile transfers were probably Sterling Dixon, who signed with Alabama, and four-star park DE Jared Smith from Spain. Dixon transferred from Mobile Christian to Class 6A Spanish Fort in August. Smith moved from Spain Park to rival Thompson in late October. Despite his shoulder injury, Dixon recorded 128 tackles, 32 of them for loss, and was named one of three finalists for Class 6A Lineman of the Year this week. Smith, a junior, dressed up but did not play while Thompson headed to the Class 7A championship game.
7. Hoover coaching change
date: December 12th
Hoover, Alabama’s most storied football program over the past 20 years, is looking for a new head coach for the second time in three years. Wade Waldrop resigned earlier this month and was later named head coach at Orange Beach High School. Waldrop followed the highly successful tenures of Rush Propst and Josh Niblett with the Bucs, but that lasted only two seasons. Mr. Hoover is still searching for Mr. Waldrop’s successor.
6. Head out of state
date: various
Two of Alabama’s top basketball players have decided to leave the state to play their final season. LaBaron Fillon, Alabama’s reigning Mr. Basketball, transferred from Baker High School in Mobile to Link Academy in Missouri in June. He then signed a contract to play basketball at the University of Kansas next year. Chase McCarty announced in July that he would be leaving Westminster Christian to play at IMG Academy in Florida. He signed with Houston.
5. Rush Propst’s return (twice)
date: January 16th, March 31st
Rush Propst returns to coaching at Alabama for the first time since leaving Hoover in 2007. Propst was first named associate head coach and athletic director at Coosa Christian in Gadsden in January. However, he was hired as Pell City’s new head coach in March. His first Panther team went 1-9. They had to miss their second win against Center Point due to eligibility issues. They lost their last two games by three points each to Pinson Valley 41-38 in two OTs and to Springville 31-28 in OT.
4. Sophomore wins Mr. Football
date: January 12th
Saraland wide receiver Ryan Williams became the first sophomore and second underclassman to win the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Mr. Football Award. His contributions at Alabama led Saraland to its first state title in 2022, when he scored 42 touchdowns. Beauregard running back LaDamian Webb is the only underclassman to win this award. In 2016, he won the junior championship.
3. The winning streak finally ends
date: November 1st
The Bayside Academy volleyball team’s 21-year state championship streak came to an end with a five-set loss to Mountain Brook in the Class 6A semifinals. Ann Schilling’s teams in Classes 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, and 6A won the AHSAA Volleyball State Championship and won 67 consecutive games in the Elite 8 State Championship Tournament, setting a record for the nation’s best. Achieved.
2. Daredevil player dies in shooting incident
date: April 15th
Philstavious Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior and Jacksonville State University football commit, was one of four people killed in a shooting at his sister’s birthday party in Dadeville. 32 other people were injured. Dowdell, 18, was a first-team All-State defensive back. He also played basketball and track and field, winning the 3A state championships in the 100 meters and 200 meters in spring 2022. Six suspects were later arrested in connection with the shooting at Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio.
1. Star basketball player Caleb White dies
date: August 10
Pinson Valley senior Caleb White collapsed and died during a school basketball game. White was only 17 years old. One of three finalists for the 2023 6A Player of the Year, he just started his senior year at Pinson Valley. He averaged 20.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals as a junior and likely would have been a strong candidate for Mr. Basketball this season. His team is honoring him during this year’s season.
This week’s thoughts
“I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career and lost nearly 300 games. There were 26 times when I believed I could take the game-winning shot, but I missed it. I’ve failed too many times, and that’s why I’m successful.” – Michael Jordan.
Ben Thomas is a high school sportswriter. AL.com. He has been named one of the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s 50 Legends. Follow @BenThomasPreps on Twitter or follow him via email. bthomas@al.com. He can be heard weekly on Mobile on his SportsTalk 99.5 FM “Inside High School Sports” or on his free IHeart Radio app Wednesdays at 2 p.m.