- GRAMBLING LEGENDS -
Grambling Legends: Fred C. Hobdy
By Nick Deriso
Fred Hobdy’s players at Grambling would find themselves still huffing and puffing from drills, when he’d abruptly switch the subject.
There was more to life, the late coach would say, than just basketball.
“He wanted all of us to grow up to be productive citizens,” said Larry Wright, the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s 1975-76 Player of the Year under Hobdy. “He used to say that all the time: ‘Basketball is not going to last forever.’ He would always talk about that. When you first came, he made sure that you understand that basketball was a means to an education.”
Hobdy, already a member of the Louisiana Sports and Southwestern Athletic Conference halls of fame, is rightly remembered for his contributions as a basketball genius. After all, he remains the winningest college coach in Louisiana with 572 victories between 1957-86.
His teams won seven Southwestern Athletic Conference titles and the National Athletic Intercollegiate Association championship in 1961 — the last men’s national title from this state. But that’s not the full measure of Hobdy’s legacy at Grambling.
A three-sport letter winner at Grambling, he later served as athletics director before passing in 1998. He’s perhaps best known as a collegiate athlete for his contribution to a legendary 1942 squad that went unbeaten, even unscored upon, under Eddie Robinson.
His efforts as unwavering mentor to hundreds of players, often long after they’d completed their eligibility, only underscored those legendary achievements.
“He was tough as coach; don’t get me wrong,” said Wright, who would later win the 1978 NBA title with the Washington Bullets before returning to coach in the same office where Hobdy once sat at Grambling for nine seasons beginning in 1999.
“He worked your butt off,” Wright said, “but at the end of the day, when you needed him, it was all together different.”
Often times, Wright said, life lessons would come just after one of Hobdy’s now-legendary practices — sweat-drenched affairs that stressed preparation and conditioning.
“He would be drilling you, running you like there is no more tomorrows, but afterwards if you had a problem he would switch hats,” Wright said. “Instead of your coach, he became your father — so understanding of the problem, whatever it might have been. There was no way you could think a guy who had just been screaming at the top of his voice do that, but he did. I will always remember that.”
Wright, whose voice colors with emotion at the very mention of his mentor, was one of a chorus of those who lobbied for years in hopes that a new basketball arena on campus would one day be named after Hobdy. That finally happened in 2010.
“I could say so many things about Coach Hobdy,” said Wright. “When you start talking about the people who built Grambling,” Wright mused, “you have to say (former football coach) Eddie Robinson. You have to say (former school president) R.W.E. Jones. I think you also have to say Fred Hobdy. He should be mentioned in the same breath.”
http://www.thederisoreport.com/2009/07/18/grambling-legends-fred-hobdy/
Grambling's Hobdy dies after lengthy illness
Wire reports
Fred Hobdy, the winningest coach in Louisiana collegiate basketball history, died Dec. 8, 1998, in his home after a lengthy illness. He was 75. He is survived by his wife, Mary; son, Lenny of Grambling; daughter, Lisa of Houston; two brothers and three grandchildren. Funeral services were held December 12 at the New Rocky Valley Baptist Church with Rev. James Thomas officiating. Interment followed at Grambling Memorial Gardens under the direction of Our Christian Funeral Home of Ruston.
Career highlights
A member of the GSU, Louisiana and Southwestern Athletic Conference halls of fame, Hobdy served as athletic director at GSU from August 1989 until September 1996. Hobdy had the difficult task of serving as chief administrator of the Grambling State University athletic department since 1989. The legendary basketball coach last served as special assistant to the President for Athletic Affairs, where he concentrated on moving the athletic department into the 21st century. During his highly successful reign as GSU's head basketball coach, Hobdy's teams posted 572 wins and 288 losses. Hobdy's 1961 team, which was paced by former NBA star Willis Reed, won the National Athletic Intercollegiate Association (NAIA) championship.
A native native of Winnfield, Hobdy played football and basketball under Coach Eddie Robinson and was a baseball player for President-Coath R.W.E. Jones. He earned his undergraduate degree from Grambling. Prior to graduating, his education was halted as he served in world War II from 1942-1945. He earned a master's degree from Iowa State University in 1953. Hobdy was coach at Grambling High School and Peabody High School in Alexandria, Louisiana and has served as an assistant basketball, baseball and football coach at GSU.
Hobdy coached 26 All-Americans at Grambling and had 16 players to play professional basketball. His teams won seven SWAC championships (1959, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1971 and 1972). In addition to winning the 1961 NAIA title, his squads also earned two Midwest Conference championships, two NCAA regional championships and four NAIA district titles. Fifteen of his 30 GSU teams won 20 or more games; two won 30 or more.
Affectionately known as "Lefty" to his close friend, Hobdy played on Robinson's 1942 Tiger team before he left school to fight in World War II. That Tiger football team went undefeated (9-0-0), unscored upon and untied.
Hobdy's efforts can be seen in former players such as Willis Reed, Charles Hardnett, Hershal West, Larry Wright, James Jones and Aaron James -- all greats recognized as some of the best to ever play the game.
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