Science Hill High School

Duard Aldridge

Duard Aldridge

Duard Aldridge walked so proudly and passionately to play at Lamar that he made it to the top of The Hill.

Aldridge and lifelong friend Dennis Greenwell were coached by Science Hill alumnus Kermit Tipton at Lamar High School, seemingly destined to become a Hilltopper. Aldridge gladly walked 3 1/2 miles to work with Tipton.

"We had no car, nor hopes of getting one," Aldridge once said. "Most of our summer games started at 2 p.m. I would leave home about noon, dressed in my uniform -- gray wool flannel with 'LAMAR' in script maroon letters across the front, with a big '6' and Kyker Furniture Company in letters across the back, maroon stirrups and maroon hat. No Yankee was ever prouder of his uniform.

"Sometimes dad would walk with me. We had great times going to and from the games."

The lanky Aldridge was courted to Milligan by the likes of Steve Lacy and Duard Walker. So was Greenwell.

"Duard was a really fine basketball player and a good baseball player too," said former Science Hill AD Sidney Smallwood.

Aldridge lettered four years in basketball and baseball, and was co-captain three years in basketball.

"I played with Dennis Greenwell and Duard Aldridge at Milligan," said former Auburn coach Sonny Smith. "I knew when I was at Milligan that Dennis and Duard were both going to be outstanding coaches. They were both fundamentally sound, they knew the game and they loved the game."

Smith was quickly proven prophetic, though Aldridge was head football coach when he began at Cloudland. He also assisted Greenwell in basketball. Aldridge went in the Army for two years the following summer, but returned for two years at Cloudland, then went to Unaka as head football coach.

Tipton, then the head football coach at Science Hill, brought him in as an assistant at Science Hill in '63. At various times, Aldridge was John Broyles' assistant in baseball and Elvin Little's assistant in basketball.

He was Greenwell's assistant in baseball in 1970 and '71, and was head coach in '72 because Greenwell had a heart attack.

Aldridge led the Hilltoppers, which included Joe Bradley, Steve Carter and sophomore Joe McClain, to the state tournament, their first appearance since winning it in '63. Tennessee had beaten Science Hill twice in during the season, but the 'Toppers won 4-1 to advance to the state.

"I can remember him telling us how proud he was to go that far," said Lynn Shirley, a senior who led the Hilltoppers with a .344 average that year.

"There was just something about him that made us click. There's not a spring goes by that I don't think intently of that experience."

Shirley said Aldridge was a "no-nonsense coach who demanded respect," but was also a player's coach.

"He kept us loose and relaxed and, most importantly, we liked him,"

Shirley said. "I can still see him out there hitting fungos. He was tall and lanky and looked like 'baseball.' I remember he and I used to 'bum' chews of tobacco from one another. That's how he was.

"I was blessed to have him as a coach and wish he was here to experience his being honored. We just had a rapport. I loved him and miss him dearly."