The first sentence of the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame entry for coach William Falls, of Hopkinsville, says, “He would do anything to help young people.”
Fifty years later, his former players and colleagues still remember Falls that way. Before they mention his longevity at Attucks High School, where he coached from 1935 to 1967, or his 12 state tournament appearances or his remarkable record of 663 wins to 233 loses as head coach, they talk about what he did for students.
Making sure Black players from Attucks had his support to move to the desegregated Hopkinsville High when they were ready. Driving students home from practice. Demonstrating unity in a time of division. Being a disciplinarian.
“He was a humble man” and probably would not have wanted the attention given to him Wednesday at the dedication of a pedestrian bridge that now bears his name, said former Mayor Wendell Lynch.
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James Victor said Falls was his coach, teacher, mentor — and eventually his co-worker. He was a student in Falls’ industrial arts classes at Attucks, then became an industrial arts teacher himself and taught with Falls at Hopkinsville High.
“It’s a real honor to be here,” Victor said to a gathering of 50 or so people under the Hopkinsville Greenway pedestrian bridge at LaFayette Road.
The ceremony occurred near the spot where Falls died on Dec. 13, 1973, when a train collided with his car. He was carrying students home from practice. Two sophomores, Gary Moore and Dennis Trice, both 16, were seriously injured. A third student, 16-year-old junior Sammy Johnson died with Falls in the accident.
Russell Hayes, who came to the bridge dedication ceremony in his black and orange high school letter jacket, said he remembers when someone came back to the school and told students about the crash. Hayes and another student were playing chess in a coach’s office. People were in shock, and someone told Hayes and another student they needed to go home.
“I was 15,” he said. “I didn’t know what to think.”
Minutes earlier, Hayes had been on the basketball court guarding the student who died.
Lynch admired Falls for his ability to carry on as a teacher after Attucks closed with the desegregation of local schools. Assigned to an assistant coaching job after serving as a head coach for more than 30 years, he did not act ashamed or say that he had been mistreated.
Lynch read a letter from Falls’ two grandchildren, Williams Fall III and Mia Falls McIntosh, who were unable to travel to Hopkinsville for the bridge dedication. They wrote:
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mayor Knight and the city of Hopkinsville for honoring our late grandfather, Coach William Falls, in such a meaningful way. While we were not afforded the opportunity to know our grandfather well, we are certain that he would have been humbled and deeply moved by this extraordinary honor.
We would also like to thank former Mayor Wendell Lynch, Pioneers Inc., Coach Falls’ former players and Jennifer Pitzer Brown of the Hoptown Chronicle for keeping our grandfather’s memory alive.
While we are unable to attend today’s unveiling ceremony, we are certainly present in spirit. We look forward to traveling to Hopkinsville with our children, Coach Falls’ great-grandchildren, to visit the bridge in the future.
With sincere gratitude,
Mia Falls McIntosh
William M. Falls III
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
