Tag: BASKETBALL

Tyler Rowland not just right choice but the only choice as Ashland Tomcats’ new radio ‘Voice’

Tyler Rowland did such a superb job calling Ashland Tomcat sports on the radio late last fall and throughout the spring that Thursday’s announcement naming him the new “Voice of the Tomcats” came as no surprise.

Kindred Communications, which has carried Tomcat sports broadcasts for several years, announced in a press release that it would continue its partnership with Ashland athletics. Later in the release came the news that Rowland had been named the new “Voice of the Tomcats,” succeeding the late, great Dicky Martin.

From a news perspective, Kindred Communications may have buried the lead.

Rowland is a bona fide broadcasting talent on the rise. Last basketball season, he inherited one of the toughest assignments in the 16th Region when he stepped behind the microphone following the tragic passing of Martin, a broadcasting icon whose voice became synonymous with Ashland athletics.

Who could replace Dicky Martin? The truth is, nobody.

Tyler Rowland is now the “official” new Voice of the Ashland Tomcats.

But if there was one obvious choice, it was Rowland.

He brings the same meticulous preparation and genuine passion that made Martin respected throughout Kentucky. While no one could duplicate Martin’s unique style, Rowland has developed a voice and approach of his own that Tomcat fans quickly embraced.

When the opportunity came, Rowland didn’t just seize it—he sprinted with it.

A 2006 Ashland graduate, Rowland played football under Leon Hart. He considered Martin both a mentor and a friend. He credits Martin for teaching him the craft of broadcasting and eagerly absorbed every lesson.

Rowland began working alongside Martin in 2020, assisting with the radio broadcast of Ashland’s 35-14 victory over Elizabethtown in the Class 3A state championship game in Lexington.

“Dicky is a dear, treasured friend,” Rowland said. “Dicky guided me in so many ways and I think is right up there with Cawood Ledford and Marty Brennaman.”

Determined to sharpen his skills, Rowland sought broadcasting opportunities wherever he could find them, including calling football and basketball games for West Virginia State during the 2024-25 season. He’s also done summer league basketball games for the past few years, always looking to refine those God-given broadcasting skills.

His love for sports—and for the Tomcats—dates back to his elementary school days at Oakview. He recalls his sixth-grade year as a turning point when he played organized basketball for Steve Reliford.

“My passion for sports stems because of that year and how much I developed socially and what I learned from it,” he said. “Steve believed in me at a time I didn’t come close to believing in myself.”

Later, as a freshman, classmate Joe Smith encouraged him to try football.

“So I did,” he said. “Played for Leon Hart for his first three seasons and enjoyed that.”

As a sixth-grader, Rowland could never have imagined that one day he would occupy the play-by-play seat for Ashland Tomcat football and basketball. He probably didn’t even realize the Tomcats were on the radio.

Today, he has become the permanent voice of one of Kentucky’s proudest athletic traditions.

And the best part? He’s only going to get better.

Rowland is a consummate professional. Give him a listen. In an era when many Ashland games are available on television through My Town TV—a service many fans appreciate—it’s easy to overlook the experience of listening on the radio. But if you tune in, you’ll quickly discover that Rowland has a gift for painting vivid word pictures of the action, occasionally mixed with the kind of colorful editorial observations that made Dicky Martin so memorable.

As Ashland athletic director Jim Conway so accurately said in the release, “the future sounds great.”

Kindred’s announcement confirmed that Tomcat games will once again air on 97.9 FM this season. But the biggest news wasn’t the frequency.

It was that Tyler Rowland is now the permanent Voice of the Tomcats.

He wasn’t handed the job.

He earned it.

Adam Howard was born to coach

Adam Howard always seemed destined to become a head coach, so it came as no surprise to those who have followed his career that Troy selected him Saturday night to lead one of the Sun Belt Conference’s most successful basketball programs.

Coaching has been in his blood since he was a kid. More on that in a moment.

Howard was essentially a coach on the floor for Mike Flynn during his high school basketball days at Ashland. He rarely made mistakes, didn’t force bad shots and kept the offense running smoothly. Flynn proved to be a tremendous coaching mentor. Howard was a solid player for the Tomcats, but he understood that playing wasn’t going to be his long-term ticket.

When he signed with Western Kentucky University, he was given no promises about playing time. That didn’t matter. He remained a great teammate despite limited minutes, and what he was really doing was learning. He watched and absorbed everything from the best seat in the house.

Adam Howard, holding his 7-month-old son, after Troy captured the Sun Belt Conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Howard spent most of his four seasons at WKU on the bench, but it was far from wasted time. Not for someone like him, who was like a sponge when it came to learning the game and the coaching profession. And no one worked harder. As it turns out, he was also a strong student.

From 2009 to 2026, Howard built his coaching résumé as an assistant coach, associate head coach, recruiting specialist and defensive guru at eight different schools. He was on Donnie Tyndall’s staff at Morehead State in 2011 when the Eagles stunned Louisville in the NCAA Tournament. As a player at WKU, he was also part of two postseason teams.

Howard’s coaching stops include Morehead State (2009–12), Southern Miss (2012–14), Tennessee (2014), South Alabama (2018–22) and Nebraska (2022–25), along with stints at Troy and NC State. He served as associate head coach at South Alabama during the 2021–22 season.

Adam Howard on the bench during Troy’s 2017 Sun Belt Conference play in 2017. He has become the head coach of Troy on Saturday night.

He now takes over a Troy program that has won 20 games in each of the last five seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament in the last two. The Trojans lost to Nebraska in the first round of this year’s tournament on March 19.

Howard previously served on the Troy staff under fellow Kentuckian Phil Cunningham from 2016–18, helping the Trojans win the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and reach the NCAA Tournament in 2017. He spent this past season as an assistant coach at North Carolina State.

Every step along the way, Howard has continued to learn, soaking up knowledge from every coach he worked with. Head coaches admired his work ethic and relied on it.

Howard replaces Scott Cross, who left last week to take the Georgia Tech job. Cross coached the Trojans to 125 wins in seven seasons, including Sun Belt regular-season and tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last two years.

Now Howard moves over one chair and becomes the man in charge. He’ll have to be a good salesman in his new role. He will try to keep much of Troy’s roster together, but senior guard Victor Valdes has already entered the transfer portal. Among key returning players with eligibility remaining are All-Sun Belt forward Thomas Dowd and starting guards Cooper and Cobi Campbell.

If there’s one thing Howard can do, it’s recruit. He has an electric personality and is known as an outstanding recruiter, something that should serve him well at Troy.

Howard comes from a great family. His parents, Rick and Chris, are his biggest supporters, along with sister Jenni and brother Chad. They are down-to-earth Ashland people who have proudly worn whatever school colors their youngest son represented.

Now, here’s how I knew years ago that Adam Howard was born to coach.

He played Little League for the Ashland American Indians coached by Tony Grossl and was teammates with my son for a couple of years. Stephen was two years older than Adam, who at age 10 put on the catching gear because we didn’t have anyone better suited for the job.

That’s not a knock on our team — he was simply the best option, even though the catching gear looked a few sizes too big on him. To this day, I still picture that 75-pound Little Leaguer wearing that oversized catcher’s gear.

One game, Stephen was throwing a no-hitter and had two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. He fired a fastball right down the middle, but the umpire called it a ball. Stephen was visibly upset and thought the game was slipping away. Adam called timeout, walked to the mound and calmly settled him down. On the next pitch, a ground ball to second base ended the game.

Without whatever Adam said in that moment, that no-hitter might have disappeared quickly. And he was only 10 years old. As a side note, Stephen pitched that game with a black eye – the result of a bad-hop grounder in practice the day before – and Adam was battling pink eye.

I enjoyed following Adam’s career as a basketball player at Ashland, including his first varsity game when he lit it up from 3-point range, and have continued to follow his coaching journey. He once gave my wife, me and some friends a tour of the basketball facilities at Tennessee when he was an assistant there. He always returned my calls when he took a new coaching job. Adam Howard has simply been a joy to follow.

Troy and Liberty University will now be two of my must-watch teams during the college basketball season especially when Kentucky frustrates me (often here recently). I believe Adam will be successful has a head because he’s successful in life. He and his wife, Renee, have three children. Their life is immersed in basketball. Make that Troy basketball now.

The bottom line with Adam Howard is simple: He is a winner who was born to coach.

Humbled with award that carries names of sports reporting legends

I received a special award Thursday afternoon at the Boys Sweet 16 in Rupp Arena during halftime of Boyd County’s game with Marshall County. Special because of the people whose names are attached to it. It was the Bob White/Mike Fields KHSAA Media Service Award. Bob (53 years writing for The Courier-Journal) and Mike (35 ½ years at Herald-Leader, 41 as a sportswriter) are the two best high school sports reporters in the state over the last 65 years.

From left: Mike Fields, John Henson, Mark Maynard.

Bob, who passed in 2024, was a mentor to many of us when he was at the C-J. What a kind person he was. Mike handed the award to me and that meant so much because of how much he has done for high school sports in the state. He was a peer and good friend during nearly all my 42 years at The Daily Independent.

Also, kudos to KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett, who started the award. He has been a tremendous leader for Kentucky high school sports. A really good man and someone I’ve known and respected for decades. Julian put the award together for the first time last year because he understood the importance Bob White and Mike Fields to Kentucky high school sports, and there were others in the state who should be honored, too. Thank you, KHSAA and Julian, for recognizing those who tell the stories of our high school sports heroes in Kentucky.

Along with myself, John Henson of the Harlan Enterprise and retired Kentucky Press Association chief David Thompson were recognized with the honor this year. That’s two more men that I admire greatly. Ivan Rice, Rick Shaw and Gary Ball were selected in the inaugural year.

Thankful to the Lord for a good day full of blessings. Never expected to be standing at midcourt in Rupp Arena at 68, or any age for that matter.

A good day indeed.  

Jody Hamilton part of 2026  Dawahares’ KHSAA Hall of Fame class

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jody Hamilton, whose remarkable 41-year high school baseball coaching career includes 1,038 victories, two state championships and National Coach of the Year recognition, is part of the Dawahares’ Kentucky High Schol Athletic Association 2026 Hall of Fame class.

Hamilton, a 1976 graduate of Ashland, won state championships at Boyd County in 2001 and West Jessamine in 2015. He also captured the All-A State title in 2024 at Owensboro Catholic and was the All-A runnerup at that school in 2025.

Hamilton was at Boyd County and West Jessamine for 16 years apiece and at Raceland for four years. This spring will be his fifth season at Owensboro Catholic,

He became only the fifth coach in Kentucky history to reach 1,000 victories, crossing that milestone in 2024. He is the only coach with state championships at two different schools.

The top four coaches on the Kentucky win list accomplished their 1,000-plus victories while coaching at the same school. All-time wins leader Mac Whitaker is still coaching at Harrison County and Bill Krumplebeck of Covington Catholic retired after last season. 

Jody Hamilton with wife Denise after Owensboro Catholic captured the All-A state title in 2024.

Taking his place in the KHSAA Hall of Fame is an honor that is well deserved for one of the best high school baseball coaches in Kentucky history. He has helped countless players – his own and rivals alike – to college scholarships and was largely responsible for elevating baseball programs through the 16th Region during a dominating run there from 1987 to 2002.

Programs were forced to improve facilities and skills to try and keep pace with the Lions who were also state runnerups twice under Hamilton.

Hamilton, who is still the head coach at Owensboro Catholic, was the 2016 National High School Coaches Association Coach of the Year. He was a charter member in the Kentucky High School Coaches Hall of Fame, the 2016 NHSCA Coach of the Year and the Kentucky High School Baseball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2015.

He was also a charter member of the Ashland Baseball CP-1 Hall of Fame in 2015 and is a member of the Morehead State Athletic Hall of Fame after an illustrious playing career that included being named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year after winning the league Triple Crown in 1977. His 49 career home run record stood until being eclipsed in 2024.

Jody played one year professionally for the Paintsville Yankees, including debuting the same night that Darryl Strawberry did for the Kingsport Mets.

Despite a successful first season in pro ball where he hit better than .300 with the prospects of moving up in the Yankee organization, he decided to embark on a coaching career that has been full of highlights. His career began as the head coach at Raceland High School in 1983. He later moved to Boyd County, then West Jessamine and is currently at Owensboro Catholic.

Jody Hamilton led West Jessamine to the 2015 state championship.

Hamilton coached golf from 2007-2010 where his teams were four-year regional champions and finished third at state in 2010 and seventh in 2009 at West Jessamine. He served as an assistant football coach at Raceland and West Jessamine in a career defined by success.

He endured only one losing season in his career, going 15-17 in his last year at Raceland in 1986 when every game was played on the road. Raceland won the district crown in ’86, anyway, and was the home team on the scoreboard for the first time — in 28 total games — in the opening round of the 16th Region Tournament.

Hamilton moved to Boyd County and captured his first of 11 region championship trophies with the Lions in 1988, taking them to the state championship game. Casey Hamilton, Jody’s son, helped bring Boyd County to a state title in 2001. He started at West Jessamine in 2004 and the Colts collected four region crowns (2008, ’10, ’15, ’16) under his leadership. He has two regional titles at Owensboro Catholic.

Winning the state championship and getting attention from college recruiters for his players was always the goal for Hamilton, who estimated 70 percent of the seniors who played for him found themselves on college rosters.

The secret sauce for Hamilton’s teams have been pitching and defense. All but “one or maybe two” of his starting catchers throughout his 41 seasons have gone on to play college baseball. Two of his pitchers at Boyd County, Jason Keyser and Casey Davis, were drafted in the eighth and ninth rounds, respectively. He has helped more than 125 players find a place to play in college.

Hamilton operated a baseball school while coaching at Boyd County and one of the pupils was Brandon Webb, a future Cy Young Award winner for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Webb was 10 when his father, Phil, took him to Hamilton. He worked with him for five years before telling him he had to stop because Webb would soon be pitching for Ashland, Boyd County’s biggest rival.

“I said, ‘Brandon, here’s what’s going to happen. I have to stop giving you lessons because, if I keep giving you lessons, you’re going to beat me. People aren’t going to like that. If I don’t keep giving you lessons, I’m going to recruit you, and then I’m going to get fired.’”

In an unusual twist, Webb never faced Boyd County as a Tomcat. Coaches held their top pitchers during the regular season for a potential district matchup. Ashland and Boyd County never drew in the first round through his junior year. Webb’s senior season was cut short by an injury.

“How many coaches can say they gave lessons to a Cy Young winner?” Hamilton asked.

Jody and wife, Denise, have two grown children and several grandchildren and live on a farm in the Owensboro area.