There is likely no more exciting time for sports enthusiasts than basketball season in March. Having just experienced one of the most thrilling tournament-seasons I can remember, I recalled a special moment in time that centered around my hometown’s team more than 50 years ago.

Our local high school had one of its best basketball teams ever that year which included the 1971 Mr. Kentucky Basketball, Jimmy Dan Conner.

Every 11-year-old boy in Anderson County wanted to be like Jimmy Dan. And we wanted to play on a team like our beloved Bearcats. The team made it to the state tournament that year, and while we fell short in the championship game, it is a team that has never been forgotten and will always be remembered as winners.

I remember well the welcome home ceremony held for the team in the parking lot of the high school. In a town of probably 2,500 at the time, I believe every one of them attended the rally that day.

The team members and coaches filed up on flatbed wagons to greet the hometown crowd who was cheering them on. Parts of that day are as clear to me now as if it happened yesterday.

I can’t imagine how these young men felt standing in front of all those people, all of them heroes to the town. It certainly was an overwhelming feeling to my 11-year-old self to be in their presence.

For many years, the school has displayed a group picture of that special team along with portraits of Jimmy Dan and another hometown sports hero Bob Ware who is still considered the best football player to ever wear the school colors. Bob was named to the all-state team his senior year as well as an honorable mention All-American. The school’s football field has been named in his honor.

I would say there are countless rural communities around this state with similar stories. And you don’t have to play a sport to be a hometown hero. I have been through several small towns that have displayed banners honoring their local veterans or historic figures from those particular places.

I’m not knocking our larger metropolitan areas by any means, but there is a special kind of love our rural communities have for those who have done great things or made great sacrifices on and off the playing field or the basketball court.

As I watched the dozens of games being played this past March at both the high school and college levels, I wondered where these young people came from knowing some of them will become hometown heroes in their own right, at some point, if not already.

It was nice to revisit the memory of that day in the parking lot of my high school as a community came together to show their love and respect for a team that will never be forgotten, as I travel down the backroads.