Sun-Democrat, Tuesday, March 17, 1974

 

Bobby Toon Is Coach of Year

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By Jerry Atkins

 

“I feel that anytime you have a group of young men like I’ve had, it’s not hard to be named coach of the year...as far as I’m concerned they are players of the year.”

 

Murray High School head Coach Bob Toon, taking a break from the action in the 57th annual Kentucky State Tournament last week, was pleased to be named First Region “Coach of the Year” by his fellow coaches from the Purchase Area.  “It's a great feeling…I’m real pleased to be selected,” he said.  “It’s an honor anytime, and I hope I’ve lived up to what they’ve picked me for.”

 

Toon, in his 12th year as a head coach and 10th as head mentor at Murray High, coached his first State Tournament team last Thursday night.  And although the season ended on a disappointing note--with Warren East notching an 80-67 win over the Tigers--Toon was still proud of his club.

 

“You don’t make coach of the year unless you’ve got somebody out there to do the job,” he said.  “They're winners… and it really hurt them to lose.  I don’t know how long it’ll take them to get over it, but I’m not ashamed of it in any way.  I hope they’ll keep their heads up.”

 

Toon, 38-year-old native of Fulton and a graduate of Murray State University,  guided his 1973-74 unit to the State Tournament at Louisville’s Freedom Hall for the first time in Murray High’s history.  But it wasn’t this accomplishment that earned him Coach of the Year honors.

 

Voting for the top coach, as in the case of All-Purchase players, was conducted in a Sun-Democrat poll of coaches before district tournament play opened.  Thus,  the selection is for the regular season and the State Tournament appearance is a bonus.

 

With its loss in the State, Murray finished with a 26-3 record, having a 17-game victory streak snapped by Warren East.  It’s the best worksheet ever posted by a Tiger  team.  “I wish I could say right now that I could spend the rest of my coaching career knowing I’d be 26-3 every year,”  Toon said.

 

“It's been some experience for me,” he continued, turning his attention to the State Tournament.  You don’t really understand how you feel until you get out there.  You think you do but you don’t.  That was the shortest ball game I’ve ever seen.”

 

Toon said he had expected his Tigers to break out of it all the way down the stretch.  Only one other time this season did Murray get that far behind--Carlisle County had them by 17 after the first quarter in the finals of the Mayfield Christmas Invitational, but the Tigers battled back to finally force a tie and subsequent overtime...and then won the extra period.

  The Murray coach, who also serves as backfield coach for the Tiger football team, now sports a 141-90 record during his 10 years at Murray, and a 25-17 coaching mark counting two campaigns of coaching in Illinois.

 

Toon was a run-away winner in the balloting of coaches, pulling eight votes from rival First Region mentors.  Lone Oak’s Albert Norris was a distant second with three votes while Hickman County’s Dale Ray, Tilghman’s Berny Miller, St Mary's Dennis Gourley and Mayfields’s Bob Sparks each drew a pair of nods.  Robert Vannerson of Reidland and Jim Whitby of Fulton County each received one vote and two of the 23 Region coaches did not cast a ballot.

 

Ray, who last year guided his Hickman County Falcons to the State semifinals, earned last year’s Coach of the Year honors.