Charles Hathaway enters MNPS Sports Hall of Fame as Hillwood prepares to close doors
Charles Hathaway still towers over a crowd, more than 20 years after he starred at Hillwood.
Hathaway, a former 6-foot-10 basketball star at the Nashville high school and later Tennessee, was one of 10 honorees at Thursday's MNPS Sports Hall of Fame ceremony held at Nissan Stadium.
Hathaway, who was a McDonald's All-American and TSSAA Class AAA Mr. Basketball in 1996, is recognized as one of Hillwood's best athletes. The school closes its doors at the end of the 2022-23 school year with James Lawson opening next school year.
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"I'm glad I'm part of this special group, this 2023 class," Hathaway said. "I'm going to hate that Hillwood is about to leave. It was a very great moment for me.
"My mom and dad told me, 'One way you are going to be part of this.' I kept asking when? It wasn't my time, it was God's time. I meant it, I'm happy. I'm in with other greats."
This year's class included another Hillwood graduate in Brian Baker, the best tennis player to ever come out of Nashville. The 1996 Hillwood graduate competed in the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. He also was a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympics tennis team.
Other inductees were Pearl High 1980 and basketball star Helen Beard, Dupont football standout Brad Gaines, a 1986 graduate, Pearl basketball standout Joe Herbert, a 1966 graduate, Maplewood football standout James Stone, a 2010 graduate, Antioch softball standout Robin Whittaker, a 1983 graduate, former MNPS athletic director Scott Brunette, former Metro coach Carlton Collier, who coached a variety of sports while at Madison and Hunters Lane, including basketball for the Warriors, and former Glencliff coach Glenn Falls.
Stone, who went on to play football at Tennessee before playing for the Atlanta Falcons (2014-16), Oakland Raiders (2017) and Chicago Bears (2018). He's now coaching in MNPS as a Hillsboro football assistant.
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"Being mentioned with some of these guys, that I was looking up to and I was reading about when I was playing makes this extremely special," said Stone, 30. "I'm now actually a coach here. I'm dealing with these kids on a day-to-day basis. To being able to reflect on the impact that Metro had on me and being part of that system and now on the coaching side of it now ... it's just really special."
Falls, 85, coached 757 basketball games and 1,377 volleyball games in his coaching tenure. The gym floor is named Glenn Falls Court in his honor.
He coached volleyball from 1979-2021 and girls basketball from 1980-2004. His volleyball teams dominated the then District 12-AAA, winning the league title 21 straight years at one point. More than 50 of his athletes went on to play either college basketball or volleyball.
"This is something else," Falls said. "I was surprised (when I found out). I had a lot of people backing me."
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee basketball: Charles Hathaway in Nashville hall of fame
