Ralph Roberts, a mountain basketball coaching legend from the 1960s through the 1980s, died Friday morning in Versailles at 92.
A graduate of Wayland High School in Floyd County, Roberts was one of the most successful coaches in state history with 615 wins in stops at Prestonsburg, Fleming Neon, McCreary Central and Cumberland. He coached 14 years overall during three separate stints at Cumberland with seven 52nd District Tournament titles.
Cumberland won four straight district championships from 1970 to 1973. Larry Cockrell was an all-state honorable mention selection in both 1972 and 1973 before going on to play at Sam Houston State. Other Cumberland standouts of that era included Ron Alexander, Major Griffey and Leon Brown.
After leading McCreary Central to a 12th Region title, Roberts returned for the 1980 and 1981 seasons as Cumberland won 31 games but watched as Harlan advanced to the regional finals in 1980 and Cawood did the same in 1981.
After a first-round exit in the 1983 district tournament at Cumberland, the Redskins turned to Roberts for a third time and some of the most successful seasons in school history followed. Cumberland finished 28-5 when current Harlan coach Derrick Akal was a senior and won the first of two straight 52nd District titles.
“I learned a lot (from him) and to this day I still say and teach things he taught me and my teammates,” Akal said Saturday.
Cumberland posted a 26-5 mark in 1985 and advanced to the 13th Region finals before a heartbreaking loss to Clay County. Bobby Keith, the legendary Clay coach, later said that Cumberland team was as good, or better, than the Hopkinsville squad that his team lost to in the state finals. Lewis Morris, who was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, was a senior on that squad along with Gary Amos and Joe Serrenho. Future Globetrotter Paul Gaffney was a junior forward that season, while Otis Lewis and Freddie Maggard were both sophomores.
Roberts stayed at Cumberland through the 1990 season, leading the Redskins to one more district title in 1989 before assistant coach Bill Scott, who played for Roberts in 1980 and 1981, took over as head coach.
“To me, he was Cumberland boys basketball,” Scott said. “He was a tremendous influence on my life personally. When I went off to college at Easter, I was terribly homesick and cried most every night. All I could hear was him saying, ‘The easiest thing in the world to do is quit.’”
Chris Hogue played at Cumberland in the 1970s and was later an assistant coach on Roberts’ staff in the 1980s.
“Coach Roberts made a tremendous impact on the basketball program at Cumberland,” Hogue said. “And this may sound cliche, but he had an even bigger impact on the lives of so many, including mine.”